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FROM   THE   LIBRARY   OF 

REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED    BY   HIM   TO 

THE    LIBRARY   OF 

PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


DM*,        igc^b 
Section  ^r^  X 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://archive.org/details/refochurchOOdubb 


THE    REFORMED   CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


.  re. 


Zhe  IReformefc  Cburcb 


tn 


Pennsylvania 


Part  IX.  of  a  Narrative  and  Critical  History 

PREPARED  AT  THE  REQUEST  OF 

The  Pennsylvania-German  Society. 


By 

// 

JOSEPH    HENRY   DUBBS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

A  udenried  Professor  in  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania; 

Corresponding  Member  of  the  Ethnographic  Society  of  France,  Fellow 

of  the  Royal  Historical  Society  of  Great  Britain. 


LANCASTER,    PA. 
1  902 


publication  Committee. 

JULIUS  F.  SACHSE. 
DANIEL  W.  NEAD,  M.D. 
HENRY  M.  M.  RICHARDS. 


Copyrighted  1902 

BY    THE 

ipennsElvanfa-Serman  Society. 


Illustrations  by  Julius  F.  Sachsb. 


PRESS  OF 

THE   NEW  ERA  PRINTING  OOMPANY, 

LANCASTER,  PA. 


PREFATORY   NOTE. 


♦ff  N  the  following  paper  the  writer  has  touched  but 
lightly  on  themes  that  were  treated  at  length  in  ear- 
lier volumes  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Pennsylvania- 
German  Society.  It  will,  however,  be  observed  that 
familiar  episodes  which  have  been  necessarily  excluded 
belong  rather  to  the  general  history  of  the  Germans  in 
America  than  to  that  of  any  particular  denomination.  As 
the  concluding  chapters  of  the  paper  are  brief,  it  may  be 
explained  that  the  writer  did  not  understand  it  to  be  the 
desire  of  the  Society  that  the  recent  history  of  the  church 
should  be  more  extensively  treated. 


CONTENTS. 


Preliminary 1-4 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  Reformed  Church  in  Europe. 

Origin  of  the  Church — Switzerland — Zwingli — Calvin — Fred- 
erick of  the  Palatinate — Olevianus  and  Ursinus — Heidelberg 
Catechism — John  a  Lasco — Refugees — Pietists — Coligni — Wil- 
liam of  Orange — The  Great  Elector — The  Church  of  the  Martyrs.         5-21 

CHAPTER  II. 
American  Pioneers. 

French  and  Hollanders — Peter  Minuit — Dutch  Ministers — 
Swiss  Linguists 22_25 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Immigrants. 

Palatines — The  Swiss — Michel  and  Graffenried — John  Peter 
Purry — The  Rev.  Joseph  Bugnion — Germans  in  Pennsylvania — 
The  Huguenots 26-46 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  S.  P.  G. 

Early  Missionary  Activity — John  Frederick  Haeger — John 
Henry  Haeger — Germanna 47_6i 

CHAPTER  V. 

Neshaminy  and  Germantown. 

Pioneers  in  Pennsylvania — A  Dutch  Settlement — Paulus  Van 
Vlecq — White  Marsh  and  Germantown 62-67 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Samuel  Guldin. 

Pietist  and  Pioneer — Earliest  German  Reformed  Minister    in 

Pennsylvania 68-77 

(v) 


vi  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  American  Founders. 
John  Philip  Boehm — George  Michael  Weiss 78-90 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  Period  of  Confusion. 
Dorsius — Peter  Miller — Rieger — The  Goetschius  Family  .  .    .      91-m 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Unity  Conferences. 

Henry  Antes — John  Bechtel — C.  H.  Rauch — Brandmiiller — 
Jacob  Lischy 112-142 

CHAPTER  X. 

Schlatter  and  His  Mission. 

St.  Gall — Schlatter's  Early  Life — Mission  to  America — Exten- 
sive Journeys — Founding  of  Coetus — Two  Voyages  to  Europe — 
Charity  Schools — Later  Years  143-174 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Early  Years  of  the  Coetus,  1 747-1 770. 

Rules  of  Order — Death  of  Boehm — Tempelman's  Proclamation 
— Eminent  Ministers — Holland  Stipend 175-201 

CHAPTER  XII. 

John  Joachim  Zubly. 

Birth  and  Parentage — Education — Pastor  in  Charleston  and 
Savannah — Political  Services      202-219 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Some  Independent  Ministers. 

Reasons  for  Independence — In  the  Mohawk  Valley — Pennsyl- 
vania Independents — Theus  and  the  Weberites — Corpus  Evan- 
gelicum 220-225 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Men  of  the  Revolution. 

Patriotic  Ministers — Generals  Herkimer  and  Steuben — Letter 
to  Washington 226-231 


Contents.  vii 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Otterbein   and  the  "  United  Ministers." 

Early  Training — Pastoral  Charges — Otterbein  and  Lange — 
Conflicts  in  Baltimore — the  "New  Reformed" 232-246 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Later  Years  of  the  Coetus,  1770-1792. 

The  Last  Missionaries — Franklin  College — Separation  from 
Holland 247-265 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Synod. 

Synodalordnung — Hymn-books  and  Liturgies — Church  Ser- 
vices— Conflict  of  Languages — Union  Movements — Synod  of 
Ohio — New  Measures 266-276 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Founding  of  Institutions. 

The  Theological  Seminary — Dr.  Milledoler — The  Free  Synod 
— Carlisle — Dr.  Lewis  Mayer — Mr.  Reily  in  Europe — The  Semi- 
nary in  York 277-294 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Mercersburg. 

Frederick  Augustus  Rauch — John  Williamson  Nevin — Philip 
Schaff — The  Mercersburg  Controversies 295-312 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Expansion. 

The  West  and  South — Missions — The  Widows'  Fund — Publi- 
cations      3I3_324 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Tercentenary  Year. 

The  Festival  of  the  Catechism — Henry  Harbaugh — Orphan 
Homes — The  General  Synod 325_334 


Vlll 


Contents. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Conclusion. 

Change  of  Title — Liturgical  Controversies — The  Peace  Move- 
ment— Practical  Work — The  End 335-34° 

Bibliography 341-380 

Index 381-387 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Seal  of  Society i 

Arms  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire     5 

Arms  of  Marburg 8 

Arms  of  Frederick  III 11 

Earl;  Book-Plate.  ...  .   .    13 

Olevianus         14 

Ursinus  14 

John  a  Lasco 1$ 

Heidelberg  before  its  Devastation 

by  the  French  (Merian  1645)   .   18 
Ex-libris   of   the    Church   of  the 

Refugees,  Berlin  .    .    21 

Arms  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  22 
Arms  of  the  Palatinate      ....    26 

Arms  of  Berne  28 

Arms  of  Uri  30 

Arms  of  Holland 34 

"The  Steel-Yard" 46 

Book-Plate  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  48 

Arms  of  Virginia 56 

Seal  of  Penns 68 

Specimen  of  Ephrata  Pemvork  .    77 
Arms  of  Crefeld .       .  ...    78 

Specimen  of  John  Phil  Boehm's 
Ornamental  Penmanship  .  82 

Ephrata  Symbol 91 

View  of  Saal  and  Saron.  ...  94 
An  Ornate  Ephrata  Initial  ...  97 
Hamilton  Arms  of  Lancaster  .  .  100 
The  Old  Brother  House  .  .  101 
Ornate  Ephrata  Initial  .  .  .  104 
Seal  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  .  .  .112 
Title  Pages  of  Bechtel'6  Cate- 
chism .  .           120 

Fac-simile  of  the  Prospectus  for 
the  First  Boarding  School  in 
Pennsylvania       122 


PAGE. 

An  Old  House  in  Germantown  .  123 

Zinzendorf  Arms 133 

Fett  Ampel,  Such  as  Used  by  the 
Early   Germans    in    Lancaster 

County  .    .  142 

Arms  of  the  Boehm  Family  .  .    .  143 

Holland  Escutcheon 146 

Reformed    Church    in    Philadel- 
phia  151 

Seal  of  Germantown 154 

Title    Page    of    Schlatter's  "Ap- 
peal " .  ....  161 
Title  Page  of  Address  of  Thanks  163 
Pastoral  Letter    .    .                        .165 
Title  Page  of  Steiner's  Sermons   167 

Arms  of  Schlatter 171 

Schlatter's    Home    on    Chestnut 

Hill 172 

Seal  of  the  Coetus 175 

House    in    Which    John    Philip 

Boehm  Died 177 

Arms  of  Miilheim  .    .    .       181 

Arms  of  Great  Britain 186 

A  Pennsylvania  German  Cradle  201 

Arms  of  Glogau 202 

Conrad  Beissel     ...  .    .  209 

One  of  the  Cloister  Buildings  at 
Ephrata     ...  ...  210 

Arms  of  Amsterdam 220 


Baron  Steuben    .    .    . 
Tomb  of  Baron  Steuben 
Franklin  Arms    ...  .    . 

Thomas  Mifflin 

Benj.  Franklin  .... 

Rev.  G.  H.  E.  Muhlenberg 
Old  Court  House  at  York,  Pa 
Dickinson  College      .... 
First  Seminary  at  York,  Pa 


229 
231 
247 
255 
257 
261 
278 
290 
292 


(ix) 


Autographs.  — List  of  Plates. 


PAGE. 

High  School  of  Reformed  Church 
at  York,  Pa  293 

Marshall  College,  Mercersburg. 
About  1843    .    .  ...  298 

E.  E.  Higbee        311 


PAGE. 

Samuel  Reed  Fisher 322 

Reformed  Church  Built  in  Lan- 
caster by  Otterbein,  Taken 
down  1853     ...  .    .  326 

Old  Houses  in  Lancaster    .    .    .  329 


AUTOGRAPHS. 


PAGE. 

John  Philip  Boehm    ...  79 

Peter  Lecolie 86 

Peter  Miller 95 

Conrad  Weiser 96 

Frederick  Antes 113 

Henry  Antes        114 

Michael  Schlatter   ......       157 

J.  J.  Zubly 203 

W.  Otterbein 235 

W.  Hendel    .    .        249 

A.  Helffenstein        249 

Thomas  Mifflin 255 


PAGE. 

Benjamin  Franklin 257 

S.  Helffenstein 270 

H.  Bibighaus 271 

F.  Herman 282 

Lewis  Mayer 286 

F.  A.  Rauch  296 

J.  W.  Nevin      301 

Philip  Schaff  306 

J- F.  Berg  308 

H.  Harbaugh 327 

J.  H.  A.  Bomberger 332 

C.  Z.  Weiser 338 


LIST    OF    PLATES. 


FACING  PAGE. 


Frontispiece.  Portrait. 
Ulric  Zwingli  .    .    . 
John  Calvin  . 
Frederick  the  Pious 
Early  Theologians  .  . 
Henricus  Boll 
Gualterius  Dubois 
Teaching  the  Catechism  . 
Rev.  Michael  Schlatter  ) 
Rev.  W.  Otterbein  ) 

Falkner  Swamp  Church 
Old  Parsonage 
Tempelman's  Proclamation 


}• 


6 

9 

32 

40 

85 
120 
144 

152 
178 


FACING  PAGE. 

Archives  at  the  Hague 200 

A  Father's  Tribute 216 

Theologians    of    the    Reformed 

Church  264 

Rev.  Henry  Bibighaus 271 

Rev.  Lewis  Mayer      1  „ 

Rev.  S.  Helfenstein   j 

Rev.  J.  W.  Nevin    1 

Rev.  Philip  Schaff  j  '  '  3°4 

Ministers       of      the       Reformed 

Church  .    .  308 

Rev.  Henry  Harbaugh 328 

Rev.  Clement  Z.  Weiser  ....  338 


PRELIMINARY. 


JS 


'HE  preparation  of  a  paper 
on  the  early  history  of 
the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States,  though  in  many 
respects  congenial  to  the  tastes 
and  studies  of  the  writer,  is  not 
unaccompanied  by  peculiar 
difficulties.  It  is  true  that  he 
has  had  some  experience  in  this 
department  of  literary  work. 
Many  years  ago,  when  a  mere  boy,  it  was  his  privilege  to 
gather  and  contribute  certain  material  to  Dr.  Harbaugh's 
books  on  the  early  history  of  the  Reformed  Church — a 
fact  which  that  author  very  courteously  acknowledged 
in  the  preface  to  his  "Life  of  Schlatter."  The  interest 
thus  excited  has  never  declined,  and  in  several  publica- 
tions on  the  same  general  subject  he  has  endeavored  to 
present  in  historical  form  such  additional  material  as  has 
come  to  his  hands.  It  might,  therefore,  be  readily  sup- 
posed that  it  would  be  an  easy  task  to  prepare  a  monograph 
on  a  theme  that  has  necessarily  become  familiar  ;  but  every 

(0 


2  The  Reformed   Church  in  America. 

writer  will  confess  that  in  such  cases  the  reverse  is  actually 
the  case.  It  is  felt  that  to  tell  a  thrice-told  tale  would 
serve  no  useful  purpose ;  and  yet  in  a  work  of  this  kind 
the  outlines  must  necessarily  remain  the  same  in  each 
successive  publication,  though  in  the  space  afforded 
there  is  hardly  room  for  the  accumulation  of  such  details 
as  might  serve  to  add  freshness  and  interest.  If  the 
author  understands  the  purpose  of  his  appointment,  it  is, 
however,  not  intended  that  he  should  enter  with  the  zeal 
of  the  specialist  into  certain  minor  branches  of  the  subject, 
but  rather  that  he  should  present  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
founding  and  progress  of  the  Reformed  Church,  especially 
in  Pennsylvania.  With  this  in  mind  he  has  not  ventured 
to  write  a  consecutive  history — which  would  necessarily 
extend  far  beyond  the  space  at  his  disposal — but  has 
thought  it  preferable  to  prepare  a  series  of  historical 
sketches  or  chapters,  that,  taken  together,  might  serve  to 
convey  an  idea  of  the  development  of  his  theme.  It  must 
be  understood  that,  though  our  attention  is  chiefly  directed 
to  the  history  of  Pennsylvania,  it  is  impossible  to  separate  it 
mechanically  from  that  of  other  states  in  the  American  Union. 
Our  subject,  it  is  plain,  affords  abundant  material.  In 
certain  of  its  branches  there  is,  indeed,  an  embarras  de 
richesse.  The  series  of  monographs  included  in  the  suc- 
cessive publications  of  the  Pennsylvania-German  Society, 
it  need  hardly  be  remarked,  contains  much  matter  that 
might  be  used  to  advantage  in  an  elaborate  history  of  the 
Reformed  Church ;  but  to  relate  again  the  story  of  the 
German  migration  to  America — which  has  been  so  well 
told  in  earlier  volumes  of  the  present  series — appears  to 
be  a  superfluous  task,  though  it  is  well  known  that  the  Re- 
formed Church  bore  its  full  share  in  the  trials  of  that  mo- 
mentous epoch. 


Archives.  3 

If  any  one  should  undertake  to  prepare  a  full  account 
of  the  relations  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  this  country 
with  the  church  of  Holland,  extending  through  the  greater 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  he  might  well  be  disturbed 
by  the  abundance  of  the  material  which  has  recently  come 
to  light.  The  transcripts  of  historical  documents  made  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Lewis  Mayer,  and  a  large  volume  of  original 
correspondence  collected  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Har- 
baugh,  it  is  true,  have  long  been  in  the  possession  of  the 
church  ;  and  the  valuable  archives  of  the  Dutch  Church, 
at  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  have  always  been  accessi- 
ble ;  but  by  the  recent  researches  in  Europe  of  Mr.  Henry 
S.  Dotterer,  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  I.  Good,  the  Rev.  Prof. 
William  J.  Hinke,  and  possibly  others,  the  amount  of  ma- 
terial for  historical  research  has  been  greatly  augmented. 
Light  has  been  cast  on  obscure  places  and  more  than  one 
hiatus  has  been  filled.  It  is,  however,  not  too  much  to  say 
that  years  must  pass  before  this  mass  of  material  has  been 
fully  compared  and  assimilated,  and  that  plenty  of  work 
is  left  for  the  future  historian.  Dr.  Good  has  published 
a  valuable  book1  in  which  recently-discovered  facts  have 
been  utilized,  and  Professor  Hinke  and  Mr.  Dotterer  have 
prepared  exhaustive  monographs,  to  all  of  which  we  shall 
have  frequent  occasion  to  refer.  In  the  present  paper  we 
shall  try  to  give  due  credit  for  new  material ;  but  if  this 
should  at  any  time  be  neglected,  we  hope  this  general  ac- 
knowledgment may  serve  in  part  to  excuse  the  delin- 
quency. 

Though  the  remoteness  of  colonial  history  may  render 
it  romantic,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  there  are  more 
recent  periods  which  are  no  less  interesting  and  important. 


1  History  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States,  1725-1792,  Reading, 
Pa..  Daniel  Miller,  Publisher,  1899. 


4  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

The  true  significance  of  the  tree  is  not  to  be  sought  in  its 
planting,  but  in  its  flower  and  fruit.  To  confine  ourselves 
to  the  formative  period  would  be  like  limiting  a  biography  to 
the  childhood  of  its  subject.  While,  therefore,  we  begin  our 
task  by  giving  some  account  of  the  European  history  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  and  enter  with  some  minuteness  into  the 
particulars  of  its  American  planting,  we  shall  not  close 
without  giving  some  treasons  why  it  must  be  regarded  as 
holding  an  important  place  in  the  history  of  the  religious 
and  social  development  of  Pennsylvania.  It  will  be  seen, 
therefore,  that  our  work  is  necessarily  of  a  general  charac- 
ter. To  others  must  be  assigned  the  task  of  elaborating 
themes  which  will  suggest  themselves  in  the  course  of  our 
relation. 

The  writer  begs  leave  to  return  thanks  to  all  friends 
who  have  aided  him  by  the  contribution  of  material,  and 
especially  to  express  his  appreciation  of  the  work  of  Mr. 
Julius  F.  Sachse,  who,  with  high  artistic  taste  and  skill, 
has  prepared  and  arranged  the  illustrations  for  this  paper. 
He  is  also  under  special  obligations  to  Prof.  W.  J.  Hinke, 
who  has  kindly  contributed  a  valuable  bibliography. 


CHAPTER   I. 


The  Reformed  Church  in  Europe. 

Origiu  of  the  Church — Switzerland — Zwingli — Calvin — Frederick  of  the 
Palatinate— Olevianus  and  Ursinus — Heidelberg  Catechism— John  a 
Lasco — Refugees — Pietists — Coligni— William  of  Orange — The  Great 
Elector — The  Church  of  the  Martyrs. 


z 


HE  Reformed 
Church  in  the 
United  States  (formerly 
known  as  the  German 
Reformed  Church)  de- 
rives its  descent  in  an 
unbroken  line  from  the 
Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  It  repre- 
sents what  has  sometimes 
been  termed  the  southern 
type  of  German  Protes- 
arms  of  the  holy  roman  empire,  tantism.  "The  German 
Reformation,"  says  Max  Goebel,  "began  simultaneously 
and  independently  at  the  opposite  extremes  of  German  life 
and  culture — the  Slavonic  boundary  and  the  foot  of  the 
Alps — and  thence  spread  until  it  met  at  the  Rhine,  the 
center  of    Germanic  life,   where  after  three    centuries  of 

(5) 


6  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

disagreement  its  constituent  elements  have  in  great  measure 
become  united."  2 

The  early  history  of  the  Reformed  Church  has  been 
termed  a  drama  in  three  acts.  In  the  first  of  these  the 
scene  is  laid  in  Zurich ;  in  the  second  in  Geneva ;  and  in 
the  third  in  Heidelberg.  There  is  no  single  hero  who  im- 
presses his  personality  on  the  entire  drama,  but  the  con- 
tinuity of  life  and  action  remains  unbroken.  In  the  first 
act  the  leading  character  is  Ulric  Zvvingli ;  in  the  second, 
John  Calvin;  and  in  the  third,  Frederick  the  Pious,  Elec- 
tor of  the  Palatinate. 

The  distinctive  peculiarities  of  the  Reformed  Church 
were  no  doubt  greatly  influenced  by  its  early  environment. 
It  was  at  first  exclusively  a  Swiss  church,  and  almost  nec- 
essarily reproduced  the  characteristics  of  the  Swiss  people. 
Switzerland  was  a  republic  or  rather  a  republican  league 
— and  could  expect  but  little  sympathy  from  the  rulers  of 
surrounding  nations.  When  the  Church  was  to  be  reformed 
there  were  no  princes  at  hand — no  civil  rulers  of  command- 
ing influence — who  could  either  maintain  the  existing  order 
or  mould  it  to  suit  their  pleasure.  It  was  perhaps  fortunate 
that  in  their  long  struggle  for  civil  liberty  the  Swiss  had 
learned  to  assume  high  responsibilities,  and  that  in  the 
structure  which  they  erected  they  did  not  hesitate  to  give 
to  laymen  positions  which  had  elsewhere  been  reserved  for 
the  clergy  and  the  princes.  It  was  thus  that  the  Church 
of  Switzerland  became  "  the  free  church  in  the  free  state." 

The  Swiss  were  a  race  of  simple  mountaineers  who 
had  little  inclination  for  foreign  luxury.  Their  tastes  were 
not  artistic,  and  it  has  been  said  that  they  were  unable  to 
appreciate  "the  splendor  of  the  mass."  When  the  fatal  mer- 
cenary system  was  adopted,  and  their  sons  returned  from 

2  Geschichte  des  Christlichen  Lebens,  I.,  p.  275. 


THE    REFORMED   CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


ULRIC    ZW1NQLE. 


Zwingli.  7 

the  Italian  wars,  not  only  relating  stories  of  the  magnifi- 
cence of  Roman  worship,  but  revealing  in  their  flesh  in- 
fallible indications  of  the  worthlessness  of  Roman  life,  the 
Swiss  people  came  to  consider  the  two  elements  as  insep- 
arably connected ;  and  instead  of  regarding  Rome  with 
reverence,  as  their  fathers  had  done,  they  learned  to 
hate  it  as  the  source  of  all  evil.  Many  of  them  desired  a 
reformation,  but  it  must  concern  morals  no  less  than  faith, 
and  must  sweep  away  everything  that  reminded  them  of 
the  wicked  city.  "  Switzerland  was  revolutionized  by  a 
great  popular  movement."3  Like  that  of  an  Alpine  glacier 
its  motion  was  at  first  imperceptible  ;  but  it  gradually  be- 
came more  rapid  until  its  progress  could  no  longer  be  re- 
strained. 

Ulric  ZwriNGLi  (1484-153 1)  was  the  most  prominent 
man  in  the  Reformation  of  German  Switzerland,  but  he 
must  not  be  regarded,  in  any  exclusive  sense,  as  the  founder 
of  the  Reformed  Church.  He  was  rather  -primus  inter 
pares  than  absolute  director  of  the  movement  which  he 
helped  to  develop.  Oecolampadius,  Leo  Juda,  Bullinger, 
and  many  local  reformers,  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
Swiss  Reformation,  and  each  in  his  own  way  left  his  im- 
press on  the  history  of  the  Church. 

Zwingli  was  a  vigorous  "  son  of  the  mountains" — a  gen- 
uine incarnation  of  the  spirit  of  his  native  land.  That  he 
was  a  splendid  classical  scholar  and  a  powerful  popular 
orator  has  never  been  denied.  He  was  honest  and  truth- 
ful, and  loved  above  all  things  simplicity  and  order  in 
church  and  state.  Though  he  termed  himself  a  disciple 
of  Erasmus,  it  was  mainly  through  the  teachings  of  Thomas 
Wyttenbach,  of  Basel,  that  he  was  brought  to  a  profounder 
knowledge  of  religious  truth.     A  humanist  rather  than  a 

3 American  Cyclopedia,  art.  "Reformed  Church." 


S 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


mystic,  he  seems  to  have  taken  little  interest  in  theolog- 
ical controversies  until  they  were  forced  upon  his  attention 
by  the  conditions  of  the  times.4 

His  earliest  writings  were  political  and  patriotic,  and  in 
these  he  protested  with  special  vigor  against  the  social 
evils  derived  from  the  union  of  the  fatherland  with  the 
corrupt  Italian  Church.  His  work  was  therefore  of  a  two- 
fold character ;  and  those  who  have  given  no  attention  to 
his  relations  to  the  state  must  fail  to  appreciate  his  influ- 
ence on  the  development  of  the  church.  It  was  in  this 
twofold  relation  that  he  reorganized  the  Swiss  churches 
and  proclaimed  certain  principles  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment which  have  since  become  the  common  heritage  of 

Protestantism.  He  called 
laymen  to  office,  convened 
the  earliest  Protestant  synods, 
and  encouraged  local  self- 
government.  He  also  insist- 
ed on  Christian  discipline, 
declaring  that  the  purpose  of 
the  church  is  "to  glorify 
God  in  the  faith  and  life  of 
His  people." 

Though  Zwingli  did  not 
agree  with  Luther  in  regard  to 
the  mannerof  Christ'spresence 
in  the  eucharist,  he  always 
professed  the  profoundest  reverence  for  the  great  Saxon 
reformer.  He  said:  "In  my  opinion  Luther  is  a  noble 
champion  of  the  Lord  who  searches  the  Scriptures  with  a 
degree  of  earnestness  that  has  not  been  equaled  in  a  thou- 


Wapjpen  oon  OTarlmrg. 


4  "  Neither  Zwingli  nor  any  of  his  (Swiss)  friends  had  ever  believed  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  of  transubstantiation." — Goebel,  L,  277. 


THE    REFORMED   CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


JOHN    CALVIN. 


Calvin .  9 

sand  years."  The  two  men  differed  in  temperament,  early 
training,  and  philosophical  standpoint ;  it  is  therefore  not 
surprising  that,  at  their  brief  meeting  in  Marburg,  they 
did  not  perfectly  agree ;  but  both  were  honest  and  could 
not  do  otherwise.  Oswald  Myconius,  the  friend  and 
earliest  biographer  of  Zwingli,  says:  "  I  am  convinced 
that  the  two  men  did  not  fully  understand  each  other. 
Zwingli  with  his  rationalizing  mind  could  not  understand 
that  from  Luther's  point  of  view  there  is  a  sacramental 
eating  which  is  not  physical  nor  carnal ;  Luther  did  not 
give  credit  to  Zwingli  for  believing  that  spiritual  commu- 
nication is  real  and  true." 

Zwingli  was  cut  down  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood,  be- 
fore he  had  completed  the  organization  of  the  Swiss 
churches  or  elaborated  a  consistent  theological  system. 
He  accompanied  his  people  to  the  battlefield  of  Cappel,  as 
his  official  duty  required,  and  was  mortally  wounded  while 
engaged  in  giving  consolation  to  a  dying  soldier.  There 
was  something  almost  prophetic  in  his  dying  words : 
"  What  does  it  matter?  They  may  kill  the  body  but  they 
cannot  kill  the  soul." 

The  period  immediately  succeeding  the  death  of  Zwingli 
was  full  of  gloom,  but  the  Reformed  churches  of  Switzer- 
land seem  never  to  have  lost  courage.  Less  than  three 
months  after  the  death  of  their  leader,  on  the  9th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1532,  they  held  the  "Great  Synod  of  Berne,"  at 
which  Capito  of  Strasburg  secured  the  adoption  of  the 
celebrated  article  which  declares  that  "  Christ  is  the  sub- 
stance of  all  doctrine,"  and  that  "  God  Himself  must  be 
held  forth  as  He  is  in  Christ." 

John  Calvin  (1509-64)  was  the  leading  character  in 
the  second  act  of  the  Swiss  reformation.  Farel  and  others 
had  preceded  him  in  the  evangelization  of  the  French  can- 


io  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

tons  of  Switzerland,  and  in  France  itself  there  had  been  a 
series  of  earnest  reformers,  but  none  of  them  possessed 
similar  elements  of  greatness.  We  may  decline  to  accept 
Calvin's  teachings,  but  we  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by 
his  imposing  personality.  His  influence  was  not  confined 
to  a  single  nation,  and  no  single  denomination  can  claim 
him  as  its  founder ;  but  from  his  seat  in  Geneva  he  ruled 
the  thinking  of  many  lands,  and  became  the  leading  spirit 
in  the  organization  of  many  national  churches.  Less  at- 
tractive than  Zwingli,  less  enthusiastic  than  Farel,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  without  his  organizing  genius  the 
work  of  his  predecessors  would  have  remained  incomplete. 
He  differed  from  Zwingli  in  many  respects,  but  recognized 
these  differences  as  minor  matters;  and  in  1549  joined 
with  Bullinger,  the  successor  of  Zwingli,  in  a  common 
confession  of  faith,  known  as  the  Consensus  Tigurinus, 
by  which  the  German  and  French  elements  in  the  Reformed 
Church  were  practically  united.5  Calvin's  view  of  the 
eucharist  found  its  way  into  all  the  Reformed  confessions 
of  faith.  It  was  an  elaboration  and  scientific  presentation 
of  the  view  of  Zwingli,  but  laid  more  stress  on  a  real  pres- 
ence through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Calvin's  view  of  predestination — which  has  been  gener- 
erally  known  as  "  Calvinism" — was  not  a  subject  of  dis- 
agreement among  the  earlier  reformers.  Luther  and 
Zwingli  occupied  ground  as  advanced  as  that  of  Calvin, 
and  even  the  Church  of  Rome  did  not  venture  to  controvert 
them  in  the  days  of  the  greatest  struggle.  All  of  the  re- 
formers were  disciples  of  St.  Augustine,  and  it  was  but 
natural  that  they  should  follow  where  he  had  led  the  way. 


5  In  the  preface  to  his  brochure  on  this  subject  Calvin  says  :  "If  Zwingli 
and  Oecolampadius  were  still  living-,  they  would  not  change  a  word  in  our  Con- 
sensus."— Karl  Pestalozzi,  p.  391. 


Frederick  III. 


ii 


Calvin,  however,  regarded  the  principle  of  predestination 
as  of  paramount  importance,  and  it  is,  therefore,  most 
prominent  in  the  confessions  of  countries  like  Holland  and 
Scotland,  where  the  influence  of  Calvin  and  his  immediate 
disciples  was  most  decided.  On  this  subject,  however,  the 
Reformed  confessions  present  no  actual  disagreement. 
"The  difference  is  confined  to  minor  details,  and  to  the 
extent  to  which  the  Augustinian  and  Calvinistic  principles 
are  carried  out;  in  other  words,  the  difference  is  theolog- 
ical, not  religious,  and  logical  rather  than  theological."  6 

Frederick  the  Third,  Elector  of  the  Palatinate,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
Germany,  though  its  beginnings  actually  belong  to  an 
earlier  period.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg  in  153 1,  four  Reformed  cities  of  southern  Ger- 
many presented  a  separate  con- 
fession, which  the  Emperor  re- 
fused to  recognize.  We  need 
hardly  refer  to  the  peculiar  po- 
sition of  Philip  of  Hesse  and  to 
the  attempt  of  Lambert  of 
Avignon  to  organize  the 
churches  of  Hesse  after  the 
Swiss  model.  Gradually  the 
Reformed  Church  made  its 
way,  and  in  1540  Melancthon 
on  his  own  responsibility  intro- 
duced certain  changes  into  the 
tenth  article  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  it  acceptable 
to  the  Reformed  people.  This  act  was  violently  de- 
nounced and  was  one  of  the  chief  occasions  for  the  re- 


ARMS   OF   FREDERICK   III. 


;Schaff's  "Harmony  of  Reformed  Confession,"  p.  15. 


12  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

newal  of  the  sacramental  controversy.  The  conflict  be- 
came most  violent  after  the  death  of  Melancthon,  and 
can  hardly  be  said  to  have  subsided  before  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  During  this  period  there  was  an 
extensive  secession  from  the  Lutheran  to  the  Reformed 
Church  and  in  this  movement  the  Palatinate  led  the  way. 
In  1559  ^e  Elector  Frederick  III.  formally  accepted  the 
Reformed  confessions,  though  he  always  insisted  that  he 
had  not  renounced  his  allegiance  to  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg.  Other  princes  followed  his  example,  and  so  it 
happened  that  the  Reformed  Church  became  the  leading 
ecclesiastical  organization  along  the  whole  course  of  the 
Rhine,  from  its  source  to  the  ocean." 

After  the  Elector  Frederick  had  entered  the  Reformed 
Church  he  determined  to  publish  a  confession  of  faith  that 
would  serve  as  a  declaration  of  the  doctrine  which  he  had 
accepted.  The  work  of  composition  he  committed  to  two 
young  men  who  thus  became  the  joint  authors  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism.  Caspar  Olevianus  (1535—1587) 
was  a  disciple  of  Calvin,  and  Zacharias  Ursinus  (1534- 
1583)  had  been  recognized  by  Melancthon  as  his  most 
promising  pupil.     The  catechism  which  they  prepared  was 


7  The  following' are  some  of  the  German  cities  and  provinces  which  con- 
nected themselves  with  the  Reformed  Church  after  the  electoral  Palatinate  had 
led  the  way  :  Wied  (1575),  Zweitbriicken  (1576),  Nassau  (1578),  Bremen  (1581), 
Witgenstein  (1586),  Anhalt  (i597),Hanau  (1596),  Baden-Durlach  (1599),  Lippe 
(1600),  Hesse-Cassel  (1604).  The  elector  of  Brandenburg,  from  whom  the 
present  imperial  family  of  Germany  is  descended,  did  not  accept  the  Reformed 
faith  until  1623.     See  Cuno's  "  Gedachtnissbuch  reformierter  Fursten." 

In  many  of  these  places  a  part  of  the  population  remained  Lutheran  ;  and 
there  were  also  many  Catholics  ;  but  there  were  isolated  Reformed  churches 
in  parts  of  Germany  besides  those  here  enumerated.  The  Reformed  element 
was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  accession  of  French  and  Dutch  refugees  who 
came  in  great  numbers.  Dr.  Good  claims  that  "  before  the  Thirty  Years'  War 
perhaps  one-fourth  of  (Protestant?)  Germany  was  Reformed." — "  Origin  of 
the  Reformed  Church  in  Germany,"  p.  469. 


The  Heidelberg  Catechism. 


13 


published  in  1563,  and  became  the  most  generally  accepted 
of  the  Reformed  symbols.  "  The  Heidelberg  Catechism," 
says  Goebel,  "  may  be  regarded  as  the  flower  and  fruit  of 
the  entire  German  and  Swiss  Reformation ;  it  has  Lu- 
theran sincerity,  Melanctho- 
nian  clearness,  Zwinglian 
simplicity  and  Calvinistic 
fire,  all  harmoniously  blend- 
ed ;  and  it  has,  therefore, 
become  and  remained  the 
common  confession  of  the 
German  Reformed  Church 
from  the  Palatinate  to  the 
Netherlands,  including 
Brandenburg  and  Prussia. 
Whoever  is  not  familiar  with 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism 
does  not  know  the  German 
Reformed  Church,  as  it  was 
and  still  remains ;  whoever 
is  acquainted  with  all  its  par- 
ticulars, its  excellencies  and 
imperfections,  is  alone  able 
to   appreciate   the   Christian 

spirit  and  Christian  life  of  our  Reformed  Church  in  all  its 
strength  and  weakness."  The  defense  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  by  the  Elector  Frederick  at  the  Diet  of  Augs- 
burg, in  1564,  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  heroic 
scenes  in  the  later  history  of  the  Reformation. 

To  write  an  account  of  the  varied  fortunes  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  Germany  is  beyond  our  present  purpose. 
It  may,  however,  be  mentioned  that  in  early  days  the 
Church  was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  admission  of  minor 


S&z>e$rj. 'zewcystS: 
$emai.jeomwLM£ixMj: 

Jt£ZXMn>S.SV2(M?mMCSJt£.  Q2/6XO/J: 

seixHjusasiJUimcfmK. 

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EARLY  BOOK-PLATE. 


H 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


bodies,  some  of  which  dated  their  origin  from  a  period  long 
antecedent  to  the  Reformation,  as  well  as  by  the  reception 
of  thousands  of  refugees  from  France,  Holland,  and  even 
from  England.  As  early  as  1532  the  Waldenses — an 
ancient  body  of  mediaeval  origin — held  a  synod  at  An- 
grogna,  at  which  they  formally  accepted  the  doctrines  of 
the  Reformed  Church,  and  thus  proposed  to  consummate 
the  union  of  the  two  organizations  ;  but  this  action  was  not 
approved  by  an  absent  minority  who  in  France  and  Italy 


OLEVIANUS. 


URSINUS. 


maintained  their  ancient  order.  In  the  Palatinate  they  had 
been  numerous  but  were  absorbed  by  the  Reformed  Church 
during  the  Reformation."8 

The  Hussites  of  Poland  were  also  in  1627  "  grafted 
upon  the  Reformed  Church,  and  in  the  next  decade  grew 
to  be  one  with  it."  9 

The  gathering  of  isolated  churches  was  begun  by  John 
a  Lasco  (1499-1560),  who  is  called  "  the  Reformer  of 
Poland,"  though  his  influence  in  the  organization  of  the 


8  Goebel,  Vol.  I.,  p.  35,  note. 

9  De  Schweinitz's  "  Moravian  Manual  "  ;  also  "  History  of  the  Unitas  Frat- 
rum,"  p.  633. 


John  a  Las co.  15 

churches  extended  from  England  to  Bohemia.     He  was  a 
Polish  nobleman  and  had  been  appointed  a  bishop  in  the 


^ 


r 

Roman  Church,  but  renounced  all  earthly  preferment  and 
became  a  poor  exile  for  the  cause  of  what  he  conceived  to 
be  the  truth.     His  life  reads  like  a  romance  of  chivalry, 


1 6  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

and  certainly  deserves  more  attention  than  it  has  generally 
received.10  It  was  to  him  that  the  organization  of  the  ear- 
liest of  the  so-called  Fremdengemcinden  was  mainly  due. 
Among  these  were  the  Dutch  and  French  Reformed 
Churches  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main.11  A  few  years  later, 
in  1562,  the  Elector  Frederick  III.  granted  authority  for  the 
establishment  of  two  churches  of  refugees — Dutch  and 
French — in  the  town  of  Frankenthal,  which  soon  became 
a  great  center  for  commerce  and  manufacture.12 

This  town  was,  however,  burned  by  the  French  in  1689, 
and  since  that  event  it  has  never  attained  to  its  former 
prosperity.  Similar  congregations  were  founded  in  many 
places  along  the  Rhine  and  even  in  Switzerland.  The 
large  Reformed  Synods  of  Juliers,  Cleves  and  Marck  were 
chiefly  founded  by  fugitives  from  Holland  during  the  per- 
secutions of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  though  they  afterwards  be- 
came thoroughly  German.  It  was  in  this  region  that  the 
Reformed  ideals  of  independent  church-government  and 
the  "  sanctified  congregation  "  were  most  completely  de- 
veloped.13 

At  a  later  date,  especially  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  large  numbers  of  Huguenots  settled  in  Branden- 
burg in  response  to  the  invitation  of  Frederick  William, 


10  The  authorities  are  mostly  German  and  Polish  and  leave  much  to  be  de- 
sired. The  Reformer  wrote  his  name  a  Laseo,  though  the  family  name  was 
Lasky.  One  of  his  brothers  appears  to  have  been  surnamed  "  Jaroslav. "  It  is 
evident  that  in  those  days  surnames  were  far  from  settled.— "  Johannes  a 
Lasco,"  von  Petrus  Bartels,  Elberfeld,  i860,  p.  3. 

11  The  English  congregation  in  the  same  city,  of  which  the  Scotch  Reformer, 
John  Knox,  was  for  some  time  the  pastor,  returned  to  England  in  1558. — Goebel, 
I.,  p.  346. 

12  "  Pfalzisches  Memorabile,"  XIV.,  p.  5. 

13  Rauschenbusch,  a  Lutheran  writer,  says  :  "  The  Reformed  prospered  in 
the  provinces  of  the  Lower  Rhine  because  they  had  a  general  organization 
and  practiced  the  principles  of  self-government,  while  the  Lutherans  had  no 
such  organization  and  depended  on  princes  who  utterly  neglected  them." 


The  Great  Elector.  17 

"  the  Great  Elector."  The  culture  and  skill  of  the  French 
exiles  became  a  blessing  to  the  land  in  which  they  made 
their  home.14 

We  have  mentioned  these  particulars  because  they  serve 
to  show  that  the  Reformed  Church  is  derived  from  many 
sources,  though  in  all  its  variations  it  manifests  a  common 
life.  Sometimes  it  has  been  called  "a  threefold  cord," 
deriving  one  of  its  strands  from  Zurich,  another  from  Gen- 
eva, and  the  third  from  Heidelberg.  Other  writers  have 
fancied  they  discerned  a  certain  analogy  between  the 
Church  and  the  river  Rhine,  on  whose  banks  so  many  of 
its  members  formerly  dwelt.  "  Springing  from  obscure 
sources  in  Switzerland,  it  derives  its  tributaries  from 
France  and  Germany,  while  it  flows  onward  to  refresh  the 
plains  of  Holland." 

The  golden  days  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Germany 
were  of  brief  duration.  In  the  Palatinate,  immediately 
after  the  death  of  Frederick  III.,  there  was  a  reaction 
during  which  it  lost  some  of  the  ground  which  it  had 
sained.  Then  came  "the  wilderness  of  wars,"  which 
occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  and 
the  earlier  years  of  the  eighteenth.  During  these  strug- 
gles the  Reformed  Church  was  a  great  sufferer,  because 
its  chief  seats  were  in  the  Rhine  country  where  the  con- 
flict raged  most  fiercely.  Indeed,  the  Church  was  so 
greatly  prostrated  that  it  is  rather  surprising  that,  by  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  Westphalia,  in  1648,  it  was  recog- 
nized  as   one   of  the  established   religions    of    Germany. 

This  recognition  was  mainly  due  to  the  personal  influence 
of  its  most  distinguished  defenders,  the  Great  Elector, 
Frederick  William  of  Brandenburg,  and  the  Landgravine, 


14  See  Zahm's  "  Einfluss  der  Reformirten  Kirche  auf  Preussen's  Grosse," 
1871. 


18  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Amelia  Elizabeth,  of  Hesse.15      It  did  not,  however,  pre- 
vent the  Jesuits   from  attempting  to  regain  the  Palatinate 


a 

o 

z 

w 

« 

ft 

w 

w 

> 

H 

■A 

0 

M 


15Cuno's  "Gedachtnissbuch,"  p.  49. 


The  Palatinate.  19 

for  the  Church  of  Rome.  They  were  supported  by  the 
imperial  government,  and  in  regions  where  the  people 
were  too  poor  to  maintain  Protestant  worship  they  often 
succeeded  in  gaining  possession  of  the  ancient  churches. 
In  1685  the  last  Elector  of  the  Reformed  house  of  Sim- 
mern  died,  and  the  government  of  the  Palatinate  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Roman  Catholic  house  of  Neuburg. 
This  was  a  great  blow  to  the  Reformed  Church,  which 
still  included  the  great  majority  of  the  people  of  the  Pa- 
latinate. That  the  Protestants  were  oppressed  was  after- 
wards boldly  denied  by  the  new  Elector,  but  the  reverse 
might  easily  be  proved.10 

The  presence  of  a  common  danger  brought  the  churches 
of  the  Reformation  in  the  Palatinate  more  closely  together. 
By  an  electoral  decree  the  Reformed  and  Lutherans  were 
in  many  places  required  to  worship  in  the  same  building, 
and  they  thus  learned  to  know  each  other  better.  Many 
peculiarities  of  ceremonial  gradually  disappeared,  and 
members  of  both  churches  conceived  the  idea  that  the  dif- 
ferences which  separated  them  were  not  insurmountable. 
"  It  was  in  the  Palatinate,"  says  Goebel,  "that  the  way 
was  opened  for  the  union  of  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed 
Churches,  which  was  instituted  by  Prussia  in  1817,  and  has 
since  extended  over  a  great  part  of  Germany."  We 
might  add  that  the  SimuJtankirchen  of  the  Palatinate  were 
no  doubt  the  prototypes  of  the  Union  churches  with  which 
we  in  America  are  so  familiar. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
Reformed  Church,  no  less  than  the  Lutheran,  was  greatly 
influenced  by  the  religious   movement  known  as  Pietism. 

16  The  King  of  Prussia,  the  States-General  of  Holland,  and  the  King  of 
England  (as  Elector  of  Hanover)  formally  protested  against  the  oppression  of 
Protestants  by  the  Elector  of  the  Palatinate,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  even 
went  so  far  as  to  institute  reprisals. — Goebel  II.,  514. 


20  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

To  describe  this  movement  is  beyond  our  purpose,  and  it 
may  be  enough  to  say  that,  so  far  as  the  Reformed  Church 
is  concerned,  it  took  its  rise  in  the  great  revival  instituted 
by  Jean  de  Labadie  (1610—  '74).  The  influence  of  Philip 
Jacob  Spener  (1635-1705),  often  called  "the  father  of 
Pietism,"  was  also  greatly  felt  in  the  Reformed  Churches, 
though  he  was  himself  a  Lutheran.  In  the  Reformed 
Church  the  adherents  of  the  Pietistic  movement  were  gen- 
erally known  as  "  die  Feinen."  Most  of  them  remained 
attached  to  the  Church,  though  some  ran  into  various 
forms  of  mysticism,  or  hovered  over  the  line  which  sepa- 
rated faith  from  fanaticism.  It  has  been  usual  to  call  all 
these  people  Pietists,  though  it  would  be  convenient  to 
limit  the  term  to  those  who  remained  attached  to  the 
churches  (Lutheran  and  Reformed),  while  the  sectarians 
might  better  be  known  as  Mystics. 

That  Pietism  in  its  best  form  became  a  source  of  life  to 
the  Reformed  Church  can  hardly  be  doubted.  Not  to 
speak  its  earliest  and  most  pronounced  representatives — 
such  as  Tersteegen,  Untereyck,  and  Lodenstein — great 
theologians  like  Coccejus,  hymnologists  like  Joachim 
Neander,  and  preachers  like  Lampe,  Menken,  and  the 
Krummachers  were  all  of  the  pietistic  type. 

The  Reformed  Church  of  Germany  has  been  to  a  great 
extent  absorbed  by  the  Evangelical  or  United  Church, 
though  the  number  that  still  holds  to  the  ancient  standards 
is  not  inconsiderable.  There  is  also  a  "  Reformirter 
Bund "  which  claims  to  lay  special  stress  on  principles 
which  are.  supposed  to  be  peculiarly  Reformed.  In 
Switzerland  and  Holland  the  church  is  still  "  by  law  estab- 
lished." Perhaps  the  most  thoroughly  organized  Reformed 
Church  of  the  continent  is  that  of  Hungary,  which  num- 
bers about  two  millions.     Altogether  it  is  estimated  that 


Reformed  Emblems. 


21 


the  Reformed  Church  throughout  the  world — not  includ- 
ing the  Presbyterians — has  a  membership  of  about  ten 
millions.17 

The  Reformed  Church  has  often  been  called  "the 
church  of  the  martyrs."  According  to  Dr.  Schaff,  its 
losses  by  martyrdom  in 
fifty  years  were  greater 
than  those  of  the  primi- 
tive church  in  the  first 
three  centuries.  Of 
course,  it  had  its  mo- 
ments of  triumph,  and 
the  achievements  of 
Coligni,  William  of 
Orange,  and  the  Great 
Elector  will  never  be 
forgotten  ;  but  during  the 
greater  part  of  its  history 
it  was  an  ecclesia  -prcssa, 
and  it  was  not  in  vain 
that  it  was  called  "the 
church  under  the  cross." 
On  ancient  seals  and 
escutcheons  appear  the 
chosen  emblems  of  the 
Church ;  such  as  the  burning  bush,  the  lily  among  the 
thorns,  the  ship  tossed  by  the  winds,  and  the  anchor  turned 
heavenward.  All  these  devices  tell  the  same  story — the 
story  of  a  church  that  has  suffered  persecutions  innumer- 
able, but  has  in  all  its  dangers  been  marvelously  preserved. 


EX-LIBRIS   OF   THE   CHURCH   OF  THE 
REFUGEES,   BERLIN. 


17  For  a  full  account  of  the  present  status  of  the  Reformed  Church  see 
Good's  "Origin  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Germany,"  p.  459.  Also  the 
author's  "  Historic  Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church." 


CHAPTER   II. 

American  Pioneers. 

French  and  Hollanders — Peter  Minuit — Dutch  Ministers — Swiss  Linguists. 


z] 


HE  honor  of  preparing 
the  way  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Reformed 
Church  in  America  belongs 
to  the  French  and  Holland- 
ers. Calvin  himself  favored 
the  expedition  under  Vil- 
legagnon  which  in  1556 
attempted  to  found  a  Prot- 
estant settlement  on  the  coast 
of  Brazil  ;ls  and  every  stu- 
dent of  American  history  is 
familiar  with  the  mournful 
story  of  Jean  Ribault's  Hu- 
guenot colony  in  South 
Carolina,  which,  in  1565,  was  exterminated  by  the  Span- 
iards   under     Menendez.      The     Hollanders,    we    know, 


ARMS  OF  THE  HOLY  ROMAN 
EMPIRE. 


18Stahelin's  "Johannes  Calvin,"  (II  ,  p.)  234. 

22 


Peter  Mintiit.  23 

founded  New  Amsterdam  in  1614.  Though  they  had  no 
settled  ministry  until  1628,  when  the  Rev.  Jonas  Mich- 
aelius  arrived  from  the  West  Indies,  there  were  probably 
**  Ouderlings  "  and  "  Krankenbezoeckers  "  among  them 
from  the  beginning  ;19  so  that  it  has  been  plausibly  asserted 
that  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  taught  in  America  be- 
fore the  Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock. 

That  there  were  Germans  among  the  early  Dutch  set- 
tlers has  been  fully  recognized,20  and  it  has  even  been  esti- 
mated that  one-third  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in 
America,  as  originally  constituted,  was  of  German  origin. 
These  Germans,  however,  soon  acquired  the  language  of 
the  majority,  and  made  no  attempt  to  organize  separate 
churches.  This  involved  no  sacrifice,  for  it  has  been 
stated  that  "  even  to  this  day  the  peasants  of  Friesland  and 
Westphalia  regard  Holland  as  more  nearly  related  to  them 
than  high-Germany.21 

Peter  Minuit  deserves  the  foremost  place  among  these 
German  pioneers.  He  was  the  first  governor  of  New 
Amsterdam,  and  subsequently  conducted  the  Swedish 
Lutheran  colony  which,  in  1638,  settled  on  the  western 
shore  of  Delaware  Bay.  That  he  was  a  native  of  the 
German  city  of  Wesel,  and  that  in  early  life  he  was  a  dea- 
con in  one  of  the  Reformed  churches  of  his  native  city, 
are  facts  which  are  sufficiently  attested.22     He  seems  to 


19  Sebastian  Jansen  Krai  and  Jan  Huyck  came  to  America  in  1626  to  serve  as 
Krankenbezoeckers.  Tablets  to  their  memory  have  been  erected  in  the  Middle 
Collegiate  Church,  New  York. 

20Corwin's  "Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America," p.  1. 

21  Loher's  "  Geschichte  der  Deutschen  in  Amerika,"  p.  28. 

22  On  the  ground  of  his  peculiar  name — which  has  been  written  in  man}' 
ways — it  is  supposed  that  he  was  of  Walloon  descent  and  that  he  was  con- 
nected with  the  French  Reformed  Church  at  Wesel.  The  early  records  of 
that  church  are  unfortunately  lost,  but  the  fact  of  his  official  position  is 
confirmed  by  contemporary  evidence.     For  the  general  subject  see  Acrelius, 


24  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

have  been  the  first  in  North  America  to  employ  the  policy 
of  dealing  fairly  with  the  Indians  which  was  accepted  and 
developed  by  William  Penn.23 

That  the  Germans  constituted  an  important  element  in 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  is  further  indicated  by  the 
number  of  its  early  ministers  who  were  of  German  descent. 
Some  of  these  were  almost  cosmopolitan,  for  they  had 
travelled  about  until  they  had  learned  to  preach  in  several 
languages.  The  Rev.  Samuel  Drisius,  we  are  told,  was 
born  in  London  of  German  parents,  educated  in  Germany, 
and  could  preach  fluently  in  German,  Dutch,  English  and 
French.  From  i652-'73  he  was  a  Dutch  pastor  in  New 
Amsterdam,  but  also  preached  English,  and  once  a  month 
went  to  Staten  Island  to  serve  the  Huguenots  and  Vaudois 
who  were  settled  there.24 

The  number  of  ministers  who  could  preach  German  and 
Dutch,  but  did  not  include  French  among  their  acomplish- 
ments,  was  of  course  much  greater.  Some  German  min- 
isters even  became  so  thoroughly  Dutch  that  they  disguised 
their  nationality  by  a  change  of  name.  Bernardus  Free- 
man, who  came  to  America  in  1700,  and  became  eminent 
for  his  labors  among  the  Indians,  was  a  native  of  West- 
phalia, and  was  in  all  probability  originally  named 
Freyman.  Johnannes  Casparus  Fryenmoet,  an  eminent 
minister  at  a  somewhat  later  period,  was  a  native  of  Swit- 
zerland and  was  properly  called  Freyenmuth. 


"History  of  New  Sweden,"  Kapp's  "History  of  Immigration,"  Broadhead's 
"History  of  New  York,"  Dubbs'  "Historic  Manual,"  Cort's  "  Minuit  Me- 
morial," Good's  "  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States."  There  are  valu- 
able MSS.  in  Stockholm,  which  were  in  part  copied  by  the  late  Joseph  Mickly, 
and  the  subject  has  been  at  various  times  discussed  in  the  Historical  Maga- 
zine and  the  Penna.  Magazine  of  History. 

2J  On  his  voyage  homeward  from  America  he  visited  the  West  Indian  island 
of  St.  Christopher  to  obtain  a  cargo,  and  there  lost  his  life  in  a  hurricane. 

**  Corwin's  "  Manual,"  3d  ed.,  p.  246. 


Swiss  Linguists.  25 

These  examples  may  serve  to  illustrate  a  state  of  affairs 
which  existed  not  only  in  New  York  but  throughout  the 
southern  colonies.  In  the  latter  region  very  many  of  the 
early  ministers  were  Swiss,  who  are  supposed  to  be  consti- 
tutionally great  linguists.  We  know  that  many  pastors 
preached  German  and  French  ;  and  where  the  nationalities 
were  mixed,  as  they  were  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
this  was  an  unavoidable  necessity.  In  some  places  the 
people  spoke  a.  patois  which  became  more  corrupt  as  their 
knowledge  of  English  increased.  Dr.  Zubly  was  not  the 
only  Reformed  minister  in  the  far  south  who  officiated 
regularly  in  German,  English  and  French. 

It  is  evident  that  such  conditions  would  render  it  diffi- 
cult to  write  a  minute  history  of  this  early  period,  even  if 
the  materials  were  accessible.  It  is  true  that  we  know  very 
little  about  the  early  history  of  the  church  in  the  far  south  ; 
but  the  feeble  gleams  of  light  which  are  occasionally  af- 
forded us  reveal  a  state  of  affairs  which  is,  to  say  the  least, 
confusing.  It  is  not  unusual  to  find  a  German-Swiss  min- 
ister coming  to  America  under  the  auspices  of  the  Church 
of  England,  serving  for  some  time  in  a  French  field,  and 
then — possibly  after  a  period  of  disappearance — emerging 
once  more  into  history  as  a  member  of  a  Presbyterian 
synod.  The  fact  is  that  in  those  days  the  denominational 
spirit  had  not  been  developed,  and  that  Reformed  ministers, 
coming  from  the  Fatherland,  frequently  identified  them- 
selves with  either  of  the  national  branches  of  their  church 
as  location  or  other  conditions  seemed  to  require. 


l$tStt£iK&k 

Wi 

[MtfiT  oms^  j^^^usm«nQts\lK!v  /A 

\w!a*$&S7  <«^e& '-   xlH 

CHAPTER   III. 


The  Immigrants. 


Palatines — The  Swiss — Michel  and  Graflfenried— John  Peter  Pun-3' — The 
Rev.  Joseph  Bugnion — Germans  in  Pennsylvania — The  Huguenots. 


1 


'T  may  perhaps  be 
taken  for  granted 
that  in  every  early  German 
settlement  in  America  there 
were  some  members  of  the 
Reformed  Church.  That 
they  represented  different 
nationalities  and  varied 
greatly  in  ecclesiastical  us- 
ages has  already  been  in- 
timated. To  attempt  a  de- 
scription of  their  peculiar  characteristics  is,  therefore,  almost 
a  hopeless  task.  The  English  called  all  the  Germans  "Pal- 
atines," because  many  came  from  the  Lower  Palatinate, 
though  it  may  perhaps  be  doubted  whether  the  majority  of 
the  early  settlers  were  actually  natives  of  that  province. 
Indeed,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Germans  ever  used 
the  word  "  Palatine"   among  themselves  except  in  its  spe- 

(26) 


ARMS  OF  THE  PALATINATE. 


Switzerland.  27 

cial  application.  As  a  general  term  it  came  to  convey  a 
trace  of  contempt,  and  it  was  not  pleasant  to  be  called 
"  Pfalzer,"  unless  you  were  actually  a  native  of  the  Pfalz.-'" 

In  enumerating  the  constituent  elements  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  United  States,  it  may  be  interesting — with- 
out attempting  to  settle  questions  concerning  priority  or  rela- 
tive importance — to  refer  at  some  length  to  several  of  the 
nationalities  which  the  term  "Palatine"  was  made  to  in- 
clude. 

1.  The  Swiss. — That  Switzerland  contributed  its  full 
quota  to  the  settlement  of  America  is  a  fact  which  historians 
are  just  beginning  to  recognize.  That  the  Swiss  failed  to 
leave  deeper  traces  on  the  history  of  the  country  is  per- 
haps mainly  due  to  their  differences  in  language  and  cus- 
toms. Those  who  came  from  the  French  cantons  were 
naturally  supposed  to  be  Frenchmen,  while  those  who  spoke 
German  were  soon  lost  in  the  German  multitude. 

The  main  reasons  for  the  Swiss  migrations  of  the 
eighteenth  century  appear  to  be  sufficiently  plain.  It  is 
true  that  Antistes  Solomon  Hess,  in  his  writings  on  the 
subject,  has  sought  to  minimize  the  reasons,  declaring  the 
migratory  movement  to  have  been  the  result  of  an  inexplic- 
able "craze":  but  it  seems  evident  that  Switzerland  was 
so  greatly  overcrowded  that  emigration  had  become  a  ne- 
cessity.    For  ages  that  little  country  had  been  the  refuge 


25  For  the  English  to  use  the  term  "  Palatines  "  was  natural  enough.  The 
marriage  of  Princess  Elizabeth  to  the'Elector  of  the  Palatinate  had  familiarized 
them  with  the  use  of  the  word,  and  with  intense  interest  they  had  followed 
the  career  of  the  unfortunate  "Winter  Queen."  The  subsequent  War  of  the 
Palatinate — and  especially  the  terrible  invasion  of  1689 — had  revived  this  in- 
terest ;  and  when  the  Great  Migration  occurred,  about  1709,  it  was  but  natural 
to  call  all  the  German  emigrants  "Palatines."  In  the  term  itself  there  was 
nothing  disrespectful,  but  it  is  never  pleasant  to  ignore  your  proper  nation- 
ality. Germans  highly  appreciate  the  historic  splendor  of  Holland,  but  no 
German  likes  to  be  called  a  Dutchman. 


28 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


of  religious  and  political  fugitives,  who  had  been  kindly 
received,  though  they  added  considerably  to  the  popu- 
lation. Especially  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes  many  Huguenots  had  come  to  Switzerland,  and  by 

their  artistic  manufactures 
had  deprived  the  less  skillful 
natives  of  their  means  of  sup- 
port. In  some  cantons,  it 
is  true,  religious  separatists 
were  harshly  treated,  and  this 
no  doubt  led  to  their  emigra- 
tion ;  but  this  cannot  have 
affected  the  Reformed  people 
who  belonged  to  the  estab- 
lished church.  Swiss  writers 
acknowledge  that  the  people 
had  become  restless  and  dis- 
satisfied, and  it  is  evident  that 
it  had  become  necessary  to  open  a  channel  to  relieve  the 
country  of  its  surplus  population. 

As  early  as  1663  Peter  Fabian,  of  Berne,  had  visited 
the  Carolinas,  in  America,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
founded  a  settlement.  He  was,  however,  the  author  of  the 
official  report  of  the  English  expedition,  which  he  accom- 
panied.26 In  the  early  history  of  the  Carolinas  the  names 
of  Franz  Ludwig  Michel  and  Christopher  Graffenried  fre- 
quently appear.  Michel  is  said  to  have  visited  America 
twice,  in  1701  and  1703  ;  but  Graffenried,  who  became 
Michel's  partner  and  associate,  was  the  real  founder  of  the 
Swiss  Colony  in  North  Carolina.  He  led  the  company 
which  in  17 10  founded  New  Berne ;  and  under  Locke's 
Constitution  he  bore  the  title  of  Landgrave  of  Carolina. 


24  "Der  Deutsche  Pionier,"  Vol.  10,  p.  it 


Southern  Pioneers.  29 

In  their  enterprise  Michel  and  Graffenried  were  supported 
by  a  joint  stock  company  known  as  George  Ritter  and 
Company.  In  the  articles  of  agreement  made  at  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  company,  in  1708,  it  was  expressly  stipu- 
lated that  "  perfect  religious  freedom  should  be  granted  to 
the  colonists  whom  they  were  about  to  send  to  America, 
and  that  a  preacher  of  their  own  land  should  preach  to 
them  in  their  own  tongue."27 

The  history  of  the  Swiss  settlement  in  North  Carolina  is 
too  well  known  to  be  related  here.  Students  of  American 
history  remember  the  story  of  the  disastrous  war  with  the 
Tuscarora  Indians,  and  the  consequent  destruction  of  New 
Berne,  Sept.  22,  171 1.  After  much  suffering  Graffenried 
made  his  way  to  Virginia  where  he  was  kindly  received  by 
Governor  Spotswood.  That  he  was  instrumental  in  direct- 
ing the  mind  of  the  Governor  to  the  desirability  of  encour- 
aging German  immigration  is  very  probable ;  but  the 
assumption  that  he  brought  the  relics  of  his  colony  to  Vir- 
ginia is  at  least  not  proven.  He  returned  to  Berne  in  the 
year  1713,  disheartened  and  impoverished.  The  "  Life  of 
Graffenried,"  which  has  recently  been  published  in  his 
native  country,  makes  it  appear  that,  though  unfortunate, 
he  was  really  a  good  man.  His  colony  was  scattered 2S  but 
successive  companies  of  Swiss  immigrants  arrived  in  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia  during  succeeding  years.  In  1732 
John  Peter  Purry  (or  Pury)  founded  Purrysburg  29  in  South 
Carolina,  which  became  a  large  village  and  is  described  as 


2TGen.  John  E.  Roller's  "  Historical  Address,"  1897. 

28  In  a  letter  to  the  author  the  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  Berne 
said,  many  years  ago,  that  he  could  discover  no  trace  of  the  early  Swiss  settle- 
ment, except  the  name  of  the  town. 

29  In  an  early  document  in  the  possession  of  the  writer  the'name  is  written 
"  Purrysbourg." 


3° 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


well  built  and  prosperous.30  The  colonists  brought  with 
them  as  their  pastor  the  Rev.  Joseph  Bugnion,  who  during 
his  sojourn  in  England  received  Episcopal  ordination.31  He 
served  a  Reformed  Church  in  Purrysburg  until  1735,  when 

he  removed  to  St.  James,  on 
the  Santee.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Bartholomew  Zou- 
berbuhler,32  John  Joachim 
Zubly,  and  others  to  whom 
we  shall  refer  hereafter. 
Purrysburg  continued  to  ex- 
ist as  late  as  the  period  of  the 
American  Revolution ;  and 
Mills  informs  us  that  it  was 
the  first  headquarters  of  the 
American  army  under  Gen. 
Lincoln,  and  was  afterwards 
in  the  possession  of  the  Brit- 
ish under  Prevost ;  but  soon  after  that  time  the  place  was 
deserted,  and  now  it  is  only  "  a  name  in  history." 

About  1730  or  a  little  earlier,  the  stream  of  Swiss  emi- 
gration began  to  change  its  direction.  Hitherto  most  of 
the  emigrants  had  sought  a  home  in  the  Carolinas  ;  now 
they  turned  toward  Pennsylvania.  Bernheim  intimates 
that  letters  had  been  written  home,  complaining  of  the 
southern  climate,  and  the  statement  is  not  improbable. 
Other  causes  have  been  assigned  for  this  change  of  direc- 
tion, but  the  matter  is  not  important.  It  may,  however,  be 
observed  that  the  migration  to  Pennsylvania  was  from  the 
canton  of  Zurich,  and  to  some  extent  from  St.  Gall  and 


30  Bernheim 's  "  German  Settlements  in  the  Carolinas,"  p.  96. 

31  Mann's  "  Life  and  Times  of  H.  M.  Muhlenberg,"  p.  80. 

32  So  he  wrote  his  name  in  Zubly 's  album.  April  12,  1746. 


Swiss  Immigrants.  31 

other  German  cantons.  Isolated  Swiss  had  indeed  settled 
here  at  an  earlier  date — and  the  traders  of  Geneva  had 
journeyed  far  into  the  wilderness — but  the  actual  Swiss 
settlement  in  Pennsylvania  dates  from  the  Zurich  mi- 
gration. 

The  Swiss  immigrants  came  in  large  numbers,  at  first 
apparently  without  organization  or  recognized  leaders. 
Many  German-speaking  people  were  already  in  the  land  ; 
and  there  were  several  organized  Reformed  congregations, 
but  in  the  region  between  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill 
rivers  there  were  still  many  unoccupied  districts  which 
were  well  suited  for  agriculture.  Here  they  settled  in  little 
companies  which  became  the  nuclei  of  Reformed  congre- 
gations. In  this  region  most  of  the  early  churches  were 
exclusively  Reformed  ;  but  there  was  no  sectarian  preju- 
dice, and  at  a  later  date  many  of  them  were  replaced  by 
Union  churches.33 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  comparative  strength  of 
the  Reformed  churches  in  this  particular  region  was 
mainly  due  to  their  Swiss  element.  The  Great  Swamp 
congregation,  in  the  southern  angle  of  Lehigh  County, 
originally  consisted  almost  exclusively  of  "Zurichers"; 
and  from  there  northward,  at  least  as  far  as  "  Shugeri," 
at  the  base  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  a  careful  examination 
of  early  records  indicates  that  similar  conditions  pre- 
vailed. 

We  have  spoken  at  some  length  of  the  Swiss  because 
we  believe  they  have  not  received  the  credit  which  they 
deserve.     Though    simple    and   unpretentious   they  were 


53  The  late  Dr.  B.  M.  Schmucker  says  in  an  article  in  the  Lutheran  Church 
Review  for  July,  1887:  "  Throughout  the  district  between  the  Schuylkill  and 
Delaware,  the  Reformed  congregations  were  formed  somewhat  earlier  than 
the  Lutheran  congregations  in  their  vicinity." 


32  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

earnest  and  energetic,  and  the  influence  which  they  exerted 
on  the  development  of  the  Reformed  Church  can  hardly 
be  too  highly  esteemed. 

2.  The  Germans. — That  the  majority  of  the  founders 
of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  were  natives 
of  the  Rhine  country  is  sufficiently  plain.  This  fact  indi- 
cates the  reason  why  the  Reformed  immigrants  were  far 
more  numerous  than  their  relative  strength  in  Germany 
might  have  led  us  to  expect.  In  the  Palatinate  they  were 
"  by  law  established  "  and  in  Electoral  Hesse,  Nassau  and 
certain  other  provinces,  they  were  almost  equally  strong. 
That  some  of  our  earliest  churches  were  largely  composed 
of  natives  of  Rhenish  Prussia  is  well  known,  and  from  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  early  congregational  constitutions 
have  north-German  peculiarities  we  conclude  that  this  ele- 
ment was  more  important  than  has  been  generally  supposed. 

To  attempt  to  determine  the  numbers  of  this  Reformed 
immigration  would  probably  prove  a  hopeless  task.  So 
far  as  the  entire  American  continent  is  concerned  it  has, 
we  believe,  never  been  attempted  ;  and  the  estimates  of 
the  early  Reformed  population  of  Pennsylvania  which  have 
come  down  to  us  are  hardly  more  than  guesses.  In  a  re- 
port offered  to  the  Synod  of  South  Holland,  convened  in 
Breda,  in  1730,  it  was  stated  that  "  the  Reformed  holding 
to  the  old  confession  constituted  more  than  one-half  of  the 
whole  number  (of  Germans),  being  about  fifteen  thousand."34 

In  Schlatter's  days  it  was  common  to  estimate  the  Re- 
formed population  of  Pennsylvania  at  30,000.  If  this  is 
understood  to    be   an    estimate  of    the  whole    number    of 


34  Reiff  ventured  to  assert  that  there  were  70,000,  but  this  was  manifestly 
a  wild  assertion.  On  the  other  hand  Rieger  and  Diemer  (1733)  put  the  whole 
number  of  Germans,  which  included  the  Lutherans  and  sects  at  15,000,  and  a 
letter  from  Pennsylvania,  ini73l,  says  there  were  only  3,000. — Good:s  "His- 
tory," p.  140. 


THE    REFORHED    CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


FREDERICK   THE   PIOUS. 


The   Germans.  33 

people  of  Reformed  ancestry,  scattered  here  and  there 
throughout  the  province,  it  may  not  be  very  far  out  of 
the  way ;  but  it  is  plain  that  nothing  like  so  large  a 
number  was  ever  gathered  into  congregations.  The 
great  majority  were  lost  in  the  general  population  of 
the  country,  and  their  descendants  soon  forgot  "  the  rock 
from  which  they  were  hewn."  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that,  though  the  Reformed  element  may  have  been 
in  the  majority  so  long  as  the  migration  was  practically 
confined  to  Switzerland  and  the  Rhine  country,  the  com- 
parative number  became  less  as  the  migratory  movement 
extended  to  other  parts  of  Germany,  and  that  before  many 
years  had  passed  the  Lutherans  had  become  the  larger  body. 
As  already  indicated  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  relate  the 
story  of  "  the  great  migration."  We  have  briefly  attempted 
this  task  on  previous  occasions,35  and  the  subject  has  been 
extensively  treated  in  former  volumes  of  the  publications 
of  the  Pennsylvania-German  Society.36  It  may,  however, 
not  be  out  of  place  to  remind  the  reader  that  this  migra- 
tion was  the  natural  result  of  the  prevailing  misery  of  the 
fatherland.  For  a  century  Germany  had  been  the  battle- 
ground of  Europe,37  and  there  were  generations  which 
never  knew  the  blessings  of  peace.  History  has  most  to 
say  about  the  Thirty  Years' War  (i6i9-'48),  but  the  climax 
of  horrors  was  reached  during  the  French  invasion  of  the 
Palatinate  (i688-'89),  which  for  pure  barbarity  was  unex- 
ampled in  the  annals  of  nations.      "Then,"   says  Duruy, 


35  "Historic  Manual,"  pp.  143-152;  "American  Church  History  Series," 
Vol.  8,  p.  236  ;  "  Founding  of  the  German  Churches  of  Pennsylvania,"  p.  9. 

3eSee  especially  "  The  German  Exodus  to  England  in  1709,"  by  Frank  Ried 
Diffenderffer,  1897. 

"The  struggle  began  in  1609  with  the  war  for  the  possession  of  the  Rhine 
Duchies  and  was  not  actually  concluded  until  the  signing  of  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht,  May  4,  1713.     The  brief  periods  of  peace  brought  no  tranquility. 


34 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


a  French  writer,  "  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
driven  from  their  country  by  the  flames,  entreated  Ger- 
many for  revenge  " ;  but  the  German  princes  of  this  period 
had  no  conception  of  the  responsibilities  of  their  position, 
and  generally  did  not  even  make  an  effort  to  relieve  the 
sufferers.  "  God  forgive  them,"  said  Prince  Eugene, 
"for  they  know  not  what  they  do;  much  less  do  they 
know  what  they  want;  and  least  of  all,  what  they  are." 

The  migration  which  began  at  that  dreadful  time  was 
continued  and  extended  in  succeeding  years.  There  were 
several  minor  French  invasions,  and  then,  after  a  brief  in- 
terval, came  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession,  during 
which  western  Germany  was 
once  more  desolated  by  con- 
tending armies.  The  war 
was  practically  ended,  so  far 
as  Germany  was  concerned, 
by  the  magnificent  victory  of 
Marlborough  and  Prince 
Eugene  at  Blenheim,  or 
Hochstadt,  but  the  result 
brought  no  promise  of  better  days.  In  times  of  war  the 
soldiers  had  at  least  been  prodigal  with  their  booty, 
and  in  this  way  some  fragments  had  returned  to  their 
original  owners ;  but  now  even  this  uncertain  means  of 
subsistence  was  taken  away,  though  their  merciless 
rulers  did  not  hesitate  to  send  out  companies  of  soldiers  to 
distrain  the  goods  of  a  people  who  were  on  the  verge  of 
starvation.38  For  several  years  the  harvest  failed,  and  at 
last,  to  crown  this  chapter  of  horrors,  came  the  terrible 
winter  of  1709  which  was  accompanied  by  a  famine  that 


ARMS   OF   HOLLAND. 


38  "  Der  Deutsche  Pionier,"  XIV.,  271. 


The   Great  Migration.  35 

spread  over  Germany  and  France.39  "  Then,"  says  Loher, 
"  the  people  looked  into  each  other's  faces  and  said  :  '  Let 
us  go  to  America  and  if  we  perish,  we  perish  !'  " 

To  relate  the  story  of  the  emigration  would  demand  a 
volume.  We  may  read  elsewhere  how  the  multitude  of 
"  Palatines  "  hastened  down  the  Rhine  to  Holland  ;  how 
they  were  transported  to  England  ;  and  how,  after  difficul- 
ties which  taxed  to  the  utmost  the  resources  of  the  British 
government,  most  of  them  were  finally  conveyed  to  the 
American  colonies.  Though  we  have  no  room  to  dwell 
on  themes  like  these,  it  may  be  well  to  recall  the  fact  that 
compared  with  the  sufferings  of  the  early  Palatines  the 
trials  of  the  Pilgrims  of  New  England  were  very  gentle 
experiences. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  German  migration  was 
a  movement  that  extended  through  the  greater  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Though  in  its  later  developments  it 
lacked  the  dramatic  elements  of  earlier  days,  it  is  not  for 
that  reason  destitute  of  interest.  The  later  immigrants 
were  not  fugitives  from  French  invasion,  nor  were  they 
pensioners  on  the  charity  of  Great  Britain.  Many  of  them, 
it  is  true,  were  poor  when  they  left  the  fatherland,  and 
othere  were  robbed  on  the  way.  There  were  wicked  men 
who  enticed  the  ignorant  and  confiding  to  sail  to  America 
though  they  were  utterly  destitute  of  means — men  who 
even  then  were  known  as  "  sellers  of  souls"  {Seelenver- 
kaiifer) — whose  infamous  work  naturally  resulted  in  pri- 
vation and  suffering.  There  were  immigrants  whose 
passage  was  paid  by  years  of  labor ;  but  as  a  rule 
Redemptioners  were  not  oppressed,  and  some  of  them  in 
later  years  became  men  of  wealth  and  influence.     In   a 


39  Duruy  says  :  "  The  lackeys  of  the  king  begged  for  bread  at  the  gates  of 
Versailles." 


36  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

general  way  it  may  be  said  that  the  early  German  immi- 
grants were,  in  culture  and  social  condition,  fully  the 
peers  of  the  settlers  of  other  nationalities.  Not  a  few 
brought  with  them  the  means  of  purchasing  land  which 
friends  or  relatives  had  selected  for  them  before  they 
crossed  the  ocean.  Nearly  all  could  read  and  write  ;  and 
that  they  were  fond  of  reading  is  sufficiently  indicated  by 
the  great  number  of  German  books  which  were  published 
in  Pennsylvania.  The  "  church-people  "  had  a  traditional 
respect  for  higher  education,  and  though  they  may  have 
been  themselves  uneducated,  they  were  never  quite  satis- 
fied unless  they  had  a  pastor  whom  they  believed  to  be  a 
learned  man. 

That  the  Reformed  people  through  all  their  trials  tena- 
ciously held  to  their  ancient  faith  is  in  many  respects  mar- 
velous. They  were  not  fond  of  controversy ;  they  never 
dreamed  of  increasing  their  numbers  by  theological  propa- 
ganda ;  but  were  careful  to  preserve  their  ancient  traditions. 
They  might  differ  among  themselves  with  regard  to  ques- 
tions which  now  seem  to  have  been  of  little  importance  : 
but  they  insisted  that  certain  matters  of  ritual  must  under 
all  conditions  be  strictly  observed.40    Though  the  laity  could 


40  The  early  Reformed  Churches  in  America  most  generally  used  the  Palat- 
inate Liturgy,  though  other  European  orders  of  service  were  sometimes  em- 
ployed, and  in  the  absence  of  a  liturgy  the  worship  was  often  entirely  free.  At 
first  the  congregations  generally,  though  not  exclusively,  sang  the  Psalms  ac- 
cording to  the  version  of  Ambrosius  Lobwasser  ;  but  after  the  Marburg  Hymn- 
book  had  been  reprinted  by  Christopher  Saur  it  seems  to  have  been  generally 
introduced.  "If  a  Pennsylvania  farmer  had  at  this  time  been  asked  to  point 
out  the  difference  between  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  churches  he  would 
probably  have  said  :  '  In  the  Lord's  Prayer  the  Reformed  say  "  Unser  Vater" 
and  the  Lutherans  say  "  Vater  Unser  •"  ;  and  further  on  in  the  same  prayer  the 
Lutherans  say  "  Erlose  uns  von  dem  UebeV  and  the  Reformed  "  Erlose  uns 
von  dem  Bosen."  '  He  might  also  have  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  Lutherans 
generally  use  unleavened  bread  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  if  particularly  well 
instructed,  he  might  have  mentioned  the  variation  in  the  division  of  the  Ten 
Commandments  which  is  found  in  the  Catechisms  of  the  two  churches." — 
"Historic  Manual,"  p.  264. 


Palatines.  37 

not  be  expected  to  be  generally  familiar  with  European 
confessions  of  faith  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  univer- 
sally recognized  and  constituted  a  bond  of  union  which 
sufficed  for  their  simple  religious  necessities.  On  the  title- 
page  of  their  catechisms  appeared  a  representation  of  a 
nand  holding  a  measuring-rule,  extending  from  a  cloud 
and  surrounded  by  a  scroll  with  the  inscription:  "  JVac/i 
dieser  Regel  sachet  in  der  Schrift" — "According  to  this 
rule  search  the  Scriptures  " — and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  exhortation  was  accepted  in  the  most  literal  manner. 

Though  many  of  the  early  German  settlers  were  very 
devout,  there  were  few  who  appreciated  the  necessity  of 
closer  denominational  unity  than  had  existed  in  the  father- 
land. Unlike  the  dissenting  churches  of  England,  they  had 
never  been  trained  to  self-support ;  and  now  that  they  were 
toiling  hard  to  found  new  homes  in  a  strange  land  they  seem 
to  have  imagined  that  the  government  ought  somehow  to 
provide  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  Years  passed  be- 
fore they  learned  the  lessons  of  liberality  and  self-sacrifice 
which  are  essential  to  the  successful  establishment  of  the 
Church. 

Religiously  and  socially  the  Reformed  pioneers  are 
hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  the  great  body  of  Germans 
of  their  times.  It  has  been  said  that  in  conduct  they  were 
unusually  strict,  and  that  they  laid  more  stress  on  moral 
discipline  than  has  been  done  by  their  descendants ;  but 
all  attempts  to  establish  such  distinctions  are  unsatisfactory. 
If  they  had  lost  the  joyous  spirit  which  is  supposed  to  be 
characteristic  of  the  Palatinate,  we  must  remember  the 
terrible  trials  through  which  they  had  passed.  If  the 
English  regarded  them  as  ignorant  and  stolid,  the  impres- 
sion was  mainly  due  to  that  insularity  which  fails  to  recog- 
nize intelligence  unless  it  is  expressed  in  accustomed  forms 


38  The  Reformed  Church  in  Atnerica. 

of  speech.  As  a  rule  they  were  quiet  and  unpretentious, 
thoroughly  honest  and  very  hospitable.  Their  ready  con- 
fidence in  the  assertions  of  strangers  often  made  them  the 
prey  of  worthless  pretenders.  Some  of  them  had  been 
influenced  by  Pietism,  which  generally  assumed  the  form 
of  quiet  reflection.  They  were  great  readers  of  devotional 
books ;  but  it  was  not  easy  to  handle  them  in  great  masses, 
nor  to  induce  them  to  work  together  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  general  purpose.  Though  they  treated  their 
pastors  with  profound  respect  they  rarely  suffered  them  to 
become  their  secular  leaders.  Excellent  people  as  they 
were  in  many  ways,41  they  were  hard  to  lead  and  harder 
to  drive. 

In  considering  the  formative  influences  in  the  Reformed 
Church  of  this  country  there  is  another  national  element 
which  must  not  be  overlooked.  Though  less  significant 
than  either  of  the  others  it  exerted  a  more  important  influ- 
ence than  has  been  generally  supposed,  and  in  the  study 
of  the  history  of  the  Church  it  cannot  be  entirely  ignored. 

3.  The  French. — The  Protestants  of  France,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  persecutions  which  followed  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  were  scattered  through  many  coun- 
tries. Many  of  them  were  intelligent  and  enterprising 
men,  and  both  England  and  Prussia  owe  much  of  their 
prosperity  to  the  energy  and  skill  of  the  exiled  Huguenots. 

That  many  of  these  people  found  their  way  to  America 
we  have  already  intimated.  In  the  South,  and  especially 
in  South  Carolina,  they  formed  compact  settlements,  which, 
however,    were     greatly    strengthened  by  the  arrival   of 

41  "In  1727  a  committee  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  re- 
ported :  'The  Germans  have  purchased  and  honestly  paid  for  their  lands,  and 
have  paid  their  taxes  and  assessments  regularly  ;  they  are  a  very  sober  and 
honest  people,  both  in  their  religious  and  civil  duties.'  " — Rupp's  MS.  "  Fire- 
side History  of  Pennsylvania." 


The  French.  39 

large  numbers  of  French  Swiss.  In  the  province  of  New- 
York  they  were  numerous,  and  the  French  Reformed 
Church  of  the  City  of  New  York  was  founded  by  Pierre 
Daille  in  1683.  They  built  the  town  of  New  Rochelle, 
and  a  Reformed  church  was  founded  there  by  Bonrepos  in 
1688.  Leaving  these  settlements  out  of  consideration,  it 
may  be  interesting  to  make  inquiries  concerning  the 
extent  of  the  Huguenot  element  in  the  province  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

That  such  questions  are  difficult  is  evident  at  a  glance. 
There  are,  of  course,  many  families  in  Pennsylvania 
which  bear  names  that  are  undoubtedly  of  French  origin, 
and  it  might  naturally  be  supposed  that  these  must  be  de- 
scended from  Huguenot  emigrants.  This,  however,  does 
not  necessarily  follow.  From  the  earliest  times  there 
were  migrations  from  France  to  Germany,  and  in  the  re- 
verse direction,  and  these  were  not  in  every  case  influenced 
by  religious  motives.  Traders  passed  freely  from  one 
country  to  the  other,  and  journeymen  mechanics  (Hand- 
werksbursche')  could  not  be  restrained  from  settling  in 
foreign  lands.  The  German  author,  August  La  Fontaine, 
was  once  asked  whether  he  belonged  to  the  family  of  the 
celebrated  French  fabulist,  Jean  de  la  Fontaine.  He  said 
in  reply  :  "  The  La  Fontaines,  I  am  told,  are  as  plenty  in 
France  as  the  Schmidts  are  in  Germany.  I  am  probably 
descended  from  some  undistinguished  Frenchman  of  that 
name  who  strayed  to  our  side  of  the  Rhine  and  married  a 
German  girl.  For  hundreds  of  years  the  connections  of 
my  family  have  been  purely  German,  so  that  there  is 
nothing  French  about  me  except  my  name." 

Long  before  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  as 
we  have  seen,  French  refugees  became  so  numerous  that 
they  were  able  to  found  churches  in  several  German  cities, 


40  The  Reformed   Church  in  America. 

but  the  great  majority  were  scattered  throughout  Germany, 
and  their  descendants  became  thoroughly  Germanized. 
Of  this  class  there  were,  no  doubt,  many  among  the  early 
settlers  of  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  other  hand  the  fact  must  be  recognized  that  from 
an  early  period  there  were  many  German  names  in  France, 
as  may  be  seen  by  referring  to  ancient  Huguenot  records. 
Naturally,  too,  there  were  many  Frenchmen  who  gave 
their  names  a  German  or  English  twist  as  soon  as  they  left 
their  native  land ;  for  in  those  days  a  French  name  was 
not  supposed  to  confer  distinction.  This  process,  begun 
in  Europe,  was  continued  in  America,  so  that  in  Pennsyl- 
vania but  a  small  proportion  of  French  surnames  have  pre- 
served their  original  form.  To  refer  only  to  names  which 
occur  to  us  at  the  time  of  writing,  Fortineaux  has  become 
Fordney  ;  L'Hommedieu,  Lumdy  ;  Chappelle,  Schappel ; 
Blanc,  Blank;  La  Fleur,  Leffler;  Beauchamp,  Bushong ; 
De  Jean,  Shunk ;  Charpentier,  Carpenter ;  Le  Jeune, 
Young ;  Caquelin,  Gackly — and  so  on  to  almost  any 
extent. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  becomes  evident  that  sur- 
names are  not  the  most  important  element  in  determining 
the  extent  of  the  French  element  in  the  Reformed  Church. 
There  are,  however,  credible  traditions  and  even  documents 
which  indicate  that  this  element  was  much  larger  than  is 
generally  supposed.  Not  all  the  Huguenots,  Walloons  and 
French  Swiss  were  Germanized  before  they  crossed  the 
ocean.  In  Lancaster — where  a  company  of  French  traders 
had  long  been  settled — the  Rev.  Charles  Louis  Boehme, 
who  was  pastor  of  the  First  Reformed  Church  from  1771 
to  1775,  preached  regularly  in  the  French  language.  This 
is  distinctly  stated  in  the  records  of  the  congregation. 
He  also  occasionally  preached  French    in  Philadelphia. 


THE  REFORMED  ChURCH  IN  PENNSYLVANIA. 


EARLY  REFORMED  THEOLOGIANS. 

RRMINIUS  (1560-1609) 


Huguenots.  41 

Whether  French  services  were  maintained  in  Lancaster 
after  Boehme's  resignation  we  do  not  know/2  but  that  there 
was  a  French  community  in  Lancaster  appears  probable 
from  the  following  quaint  advertisement  which  we  trans- 
late from  the  JVcue  Unpartheyische  Lancaster  Zcitung  of 
January  27,  1788  : 

"  Peter  Audirac,  from  France,  has  the  honor  to  an- 
nounce to  the  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  that  he  intends  to 
keep  a  school  in  the  French  language.  His  wife  makes 
known  to  the  Ladies  that  she  makes  habits,  caps,  cha- 
peaux,  etc.,  after  all  sorts  of  fashions.  He  lives  at  the 
Widow  Newman's." 

Among  the  papers  collected  by  Dr.  Harbaugh  there  is 
a  curious  letter  written  in  French  by  the  Rev.  Abraham 
Blumer,  of  Lehigh  County,  which  may  be  of  interest  in 
this  connection.  It  has,  we  believe,  never  appeared  in 
print.  Blumer  was  a  Swiss  minister  who  was  sent  to 
America  in  1770  by  the  Synods  of  Holland,  and  was  for 
more  than  thirty  years  pastor  of  Reformed  churches  in 
Allentown  and  its  vicinity.  In  his  early  ministry  he  had 
acquired  the  French  language,  and  on  this  ground  the 
French  Reformed  Church  of  New  York  gave  him  a  call 
which  he  felt  constrained  to  decline  because  he  had  grown 
"  rusty."  In  his  declination  he  refers  pleasantly  to  Pastor 
Boehme,  and  gives  the  congregation  some  excellent  ad- 
vice concerning  the  best  way  of  securing  a  pastor.  The 
letter  is  in  its  way  unique,  and  we  therefore  reproduce  it 
exactlv  as  it  was  written  : 


42  Boehme  was  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Hanover,  Pa.,  from  1775  to 
1781.  It  is  known  that  some  Huguenots  had  settled  in  that  vicinity,  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  preached  to  them  in  their  native  language.  He  died 
as  pastor  of  the  Second  Street  Reformed  Church  of  Baltimore,  about  1786. 


42  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

"  Messieurs  mes  tres  chers  Freres  en  J.  C. 
a  la  fois  Le  Due  de  Mirepoix 

in  his  Absence  to  — 


Je  me  voir  honore  de  deux  de  Vos  lettres  a  la  fois,  d'une 
de  l'onzieme  Juillet  que  je  recus  le  21  de  ce  mois,  et  du 
Duplicat  de  la  meme  qui  me  fut  rendu  un  jour  plutot, 
savoir  le  20  du  Courant.  Quant  aux  propositions  que 
Vous  me  faites  dans  les  dites  Lettres,  je  suis  fache  de  ne 
me  pas  trouver  en  etat  de  respondre  a  Vos  Desirs.  C'est 
vrai  que  je  parlais  la  Lange  francoise  quelque  peu  il-y-a 
quelques  annees  mais  j'avoue  ingenuement  que  je  ne  pos- 
sedoir  jamais  cette  Langue  dans  un  tel  degre  pour  satisfaire 
a  tous  les  Devoirs  d'un  Ministre  etabli  dans  une  Eglise 
francoise,  et  a  present  f aute  d'exercise  la  francois  en  bonne 
partie,  s'en  elle  en  oubli.  Vous  me  dites  dans  Votre  chere 
Lettre  d'avoir  apris,  que  javoir  preche  il-y-a  peu  de  terns 
en  francois  a  Germantown,  mais  permettes  que  je  Vous 
dise,  mes  tres  chers  freres,  que  ce  ne'etoit  pas  mois,  mais 
mon  Compagnon  de  Vo'iage  dans  ce  pais-ci,  Mr.  Boehme 
Minister  de  Lancastre  que  precha  un  Sermon  francois  a 
Philadelphia  au  mois  de  May  passe.  Peutetre  Vous  auriez 
plus  d'assistance  a  esperer  de  ce  cote-la  que  de  ma  Part. 
Mais  comme  les  intentions  de  ce  Mr.  me  ne  sont  pas  con- 
nues,  je  crois  la  Voie  la  plus  sure  pour  obtenir  un  fidele  Min- 
istre pour  Votre  Eglise  seroit  d'addresser  a  quelque  pieux 
et  zele  Ministre  d'une  Eglise  francoise  en  Hollande,  et  je 
ne  doute  point  si  Vous  exposerez  Votra  Situation,  qu'il 
tacherais  a  persuader  a  quelque  Ministre  sans  place,  qui 
S'y  trouvent  toujours,  d'entreprendre  la  Vo'iage  pour  la 
Nouvelle-York.  En  attendant  Jesus  Christ  le  fidel,  bon  et 
Souverain  Pasteur  de  ces  fideles  veuille  habiter  entre  Vous 
par  la  parole  et  Son  Esprit,  et  Vous  mes  freres  ne  cessez 


Stumer's  Letter.  43 

point  de  prier  le   maitre  de  la  Moisson,  qu'il   envo'ie  des 
ouvriers,  car  la  moissson  est  grand  et  il-y-a  peu  d'ouvriers. 
Je  suis 
Messieurs  mes  tres  cher  Freres  en  J.  C. 
Votre  tres  humble  Serviteur, 
Abraham  Blumer. 
Northampton,  communement  Allenstown 

ce  28  de  Novembre  1774. 
Aux  Conducteurs,  Anciens,  Diacres,  et  Committes 
de  l'Eglise  francoise  Reformee 
a  la  Nouvelle-York."*3 


43  Translation  :  Dear  Brethren  in  Jesus  Christ,  particularly  the  Duke  oi 
Mizepoix.     In  his  absence  to 

I  regard  myself  as  honored  by  the  receipt  of  two  of  your  letters  at  once,  one 
of  the  eleventh  of  July  which  I  received  on  the  21st  of  this  month,  and  a  du- 
plicate of  the  same  which  was  delivered  to  me  a  day  later,  that  is  to  say  on  the 
20th  of  the  present  month.  Concerning  the  propositions  which  you  present 
to  me  in  the  said  letters,  I  regTet  that  I  do  not  find  myself  in  a  position  to  re- 
spond to  your  wishes.  It  is  true  that  I  spoke  the  French  language  a  little 
some  years  ago,  but  I  honestly  confess  that  I  never  comprehended  that  lan- 
guage to  such  a  degree  as  to  perform  satisfactorily  all  the  duties  incumbent  on 
a  minister  settled  in  a  French  church,  and  at  present,  for  want  of  practice  in 
French,  I  have  in  great  measure  forgotten  even  that.  You  tell  me  in  your 
kind  letter  that  you  have  been  informed  that  I  preached  in  French  some  time 
ago  in  Germantown,  but  permit  me  to  inform  you,  my  very  dear  brethren, 
that  it  was  not  I,  but  the  companion  of  my  voyage  to  this  country,  Mr.  Boehme, 
minister  at  Lancaster,  who  preached  a  French  sermon  in  Philadelphia  in  the 
month  of  May  last.  Possibly  you  would  have  more  assistance  to  hope  from 
him  than  from  me.  But  as  the  views  of  that  gentleman  are  unknown  to  me, 
I  believe  the  most  certain  way  of  obtaining  a  faithful  minister  for  your  church 
would  be  to  write  to  some  pious  and  zealous  minister  of  a  French  church  in 
Holland,  and  I  do  not  doubt  that  if  you  explain  your  situation,  he  will  en- 
deavor to  persuade  some  minister  without  a  charge,  who  may  always  be  found 
there,  to  undertake  the  voyage  to  New  York. 

In  the  meantime  may  Jesus  Christ,  the  faithful,  good  and  sovereign  pastor 
of  His  faithful  ones,  dwell  among  you  with  His  word  and  His  spirit,  and  you, 
my  dear  brethren,  do  not  cease  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  He  would 
send  forth  laborers,  for  the  harvest  is  great  and  the  laborers  are  few. 

I  am,  my  very  dear  brethren,  in  Jesus  Christ,  your  most  humble  servant, 

Abraham  Blumer. 

Northampton,  commonly  called  Allenstown,  Nov.  28,  1774. 
To  the  leaders,  elders,  deacons  and  committees  of  the   French  Reformed 

Church  of  New  York. 


44  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

The  French  community  of  Lancaster  has  entirely  dis- 
appeared, though  some  of  the  more  eminent  families — 
such  as  the  Le  Roys  and  Du  Fresnes — are  not  yet  entirely 
forgotten.  In  Berks  County  the  French  element  was  larger 
than  in  Lancaster,  but  there  appears  to  be  no  sufficient 
evidence  that  religious  services  were  conducted  there  in 
the  French  language.44  The  families  claiming  Huguenot 
descent  were,  however,  numerous  and  influential.  In 
looking  over  a  tax-list,  dated  in  1759,  we  find  in  Oley  such 
names  as  De  Turk,  Delaplaine,  Barto,  Bertolet,  Madeira, 
and  Roshon ;  in  Maxatawny,  LeVan,  DeLong,  Shara- 
din,  Chapelle,  Queery  and  Wildrout ;  in  Exeter  and 
Union  Townships,  Burgoign,  Brissence,  Huet,  Lebo  (Le 
Beau),  Mizell,  and  many  others.  Now  it  is  no  doubt  true 
that  many  of  these  were  Germanized  before  they  crossed 
the  sea,  but  there  were  others  who  could  speak  French. 

That  the  Reformed  Church  was  greatly  benefited  by  its 
French  accessions  will  hardly  be  denied.  The}'  were  an 
active,  energetic  people,  who  naturally  became  leaders  in 
the  communities  in  which  they  dwelt.  Many  eminent 
ministers  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States 
have  been  of  Huguenot  descent.  John  Jacob  LaRose— 
the  pioneer  of  the  Church  in  Ohio — belonged  to  the  family 
in  Lehigh  County  who  now  generally  write  their  name 
Laros.  Jacob  Descombes — author  of  a  volume  on  "  Bap- 
tism " — was  thoroughly  German,  but  took  pleasure  in  re- 
calling Huguenot  traditions.  Frederick  Dallicker,  pastor 
at  Falkener  Swamp  during  the  concluding  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  is  said  by  Harbaugh  to  have  been 
originally  named  De  La  Cour.  This  is  probable  enough 
for    many    similar    changes    have    undoubtedly  occurred. 


44  The  traditions  concerning  French  preaching  in  the  Alsace  Church,  near 
Reading,  appear  not  to  be  sufficiently  authenticated. 


French  Surnames.  45 

The  late  Rev.  W.  F.  P.  Davis,  of  Reading,  ought  to 
have  been  called  De  Wees  ;  and  my  old  friend  the  Rev. 
William  F.  Colliflower  was  said  to  have  been  remotely 
descended  from  the  Goranflot  (or  Goranflo)  family. 

Recognizing  the  personal  excellence  of  many  of  the 
early  Huguenots,  and  fully  appreciating  the  value  of  their 
contribution  to  the  social  life  of  the  Reformed  Church,  it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  from  an  ecclesiastical  stand- 
point the  race  manifested  certain  weaknesses  which  the 
historian  can  hardly  ignore.  Muhlenberg,  who  knew  them 
well,  once  expressed  his  surprise  that  the  people  who  in 
France  had  endured  dreadful  persecution  and  had  sacri- 
ficed house  and  home  for  the  sake  of  their  faith,  should  in 
America  manifest  so  little  zeal  for  its  preservation.  Though 
they  were  numerous  everywhere  they  established  no 
churches,  except  in  New  York  and  South  Carolina,  and 
even  in  these  provinces  their  efforts  for  ecclesiastical  or- 
ganization were  of  the  slightest.  In  Pennsylvania,  where- 
ever  they  found  Reformed  Churches  they  joined  them  as 
a  matter  of  course,  and  often  became  prominent  members  ; 
but  elsewhere  they  connected  themselves  with  the  English 
churches,  or  became  sectarian  leaders,  like  DeBeneville 
and  others.  We  are  not  blaming  them  for  this  tendency, 
but  merely  mention  the  facts  to  show  that  if  they  had 
held  together  they  might  have  accomplished  more  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Church  to  which  they  rightfully  be- 
longed. 

That,  besides  those  we  have  mentioned,  there  were  iso- 
lated representatives  of  other  nationalities  goes  without 
saying.  Here  or  there  a  wandering  Irishman  or  Welsh- 
man settled  among  the  Germans  and  his  descendants  as- 
sumed the  language  and  customs  of  his  neighbors.  In 
eastern  Pennsylvania  there  was  also  a  little  settlement  of 


46 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


Hollanders  which  was  during  the  provincial  period  con- 
nected with  the  German  Reformed  Church,  exerting  an 
important  influence  on  its  early  history.  To  this  settlement 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  hereafter. 


"THE  STEEL-YARD." 

Warehouses  of  the  German  Hansa  in  London  in  Seventeenth  Century. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


The  S.  P.  G. 


z] 


Early  Missionary  Activity— John  Frederick  Haeger— John  Henry  Haeger 
— Germanna. 

'HE  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts — which,  for  the 
sake  of  convenience  is  often  des- 
ignated by  initials — was  founded 
in  London,  in  1701.  Its  original 
purpose  was  "  to  develop  the 
colonial  Church  and  provide 
for  the  wants  of  the  Indian 
tribes,"  but  its  establishment 
marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
missions  throughout  the  world. 
That  this  great  society  became  interested  in  the  German 
migration  to  America  was  entirely  natural.  Its  records 
inform  us i5  that  "  the  arrival  of  a  body  of  '  poor  palatines ' 
in  England  in  1709  enlisted  English  sympathy,"  and  for 
some  years  the  missionaries  of  the  society  endeavored  to 
provide  these  people  with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 


45  Digest  of  the  Records  of  the  S.  P.  G.,  p.  61. 

(47) 


48  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

There  have  been  writers  who  have  regarded  this  work 
without  sympathy,  as  an  effort  of  sectarian  proselytism ; 
but  it  should  be  remembered  that  in  those  days  denomi- 
national distinctions  were  less  marked  than  they  became 


BOOK  PLATE  OF  THE  SOCIETY   FOR  THE  PROPAGATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

in  later  times.  The  Church  of  England  had,  in  1618, 
sent  delegates  to  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht,  and  all  over 
the  continent  it  was  fully  recognized  as  one  of  the  Re- 
formed Churches.     Stilling  says  :  "The  Anglican,  that  is 


English  Missions.  49 


'6 


to  say  the  English  Church,  is  only  different  from  the  rest 
of  the  Reformed  Church  in  this,  that  it  has  an  episcopal 
form  of  government.  Are  the  Swedish  and  Danish 
churches  not  Lutheran  because  they  have  bishops  ?  Does 
the  garment  make  the  man?"  The  English  Church  was, 
in  those  days  mild  in  doctrine  and  inclined  to  strengthen  its 
Protestant  elements ;  and  the  German  ministers  who  en- 
tered its  service  and  conformed  to  its  usages,  had  no  idea 
that  they  could  be  regarded  as  renouncing  the  faith  of  their 
fathers.  The  "S.  P.  G."  was  active  among  the  French 
Reformed  of  the  Carolinas.  Among  its  earliest  mission- 
arieswere  FrancisLe  Jau,D.D.,anative  of  Angiers,  France, 
who  died  in  South  Carolina  in  17 17,  and  Francis  Varnod, 
who  is  simply  described  as  "a  foreigner."  There  were  also 
a  number  of  Swiss  who  had  received  episcopal  ordination 
from  the  English  bishops,  though  they  may  not  have  been 
directly  in  the  service  of  the  "  S.  P.  G."  Graffenried, 
though  a  layman,  had  been  "  licensed  by  the  Bishop  of 
London  to  read  service  to  the  colonists."46  "  Rev.  Joseph 
Bugnion,  a  Swiss  minister,"  to  whom  we  have  already 
referred,  "was  induced  to  have  Episcopal  ordination 
laid  upon  him  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Clagett,  Bishop  of  St. 
David's."47  Dalcho,  in  his  "History  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  South  Carolina,"  mentions  several 
ministers  of  this  type  who  are  otherwise  unknown.  The 
Rev.  Henry  Chiffele  is  said  to  have  been  a  missionary  of 
the  "S.  P.  G."  who  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don as  late  as  1744.  We  suppose  him  to  have  been  the 
same  person  as  "  a  Swiss  named  Tschiffeli"  who  joined 
with   Sebastian  Zouberbuhler   and  a   certain   Simon,   "a 


46  Good's  "  History  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States,"  p.  60. 

47  "  Bernheim,"  p.  96. 


50  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Rheder"  to  found  a  settlement  on  the  Santee.48  His  suc- 
cessor was  the  Rev.  Ahraham  Imer,  who  arrived  in  the 
province  in  1760  and  died  in  1766.49  The  Rev.  John  Ulrich 
Giessendanner,  who  located  in  Orangeburg  District,  and 
his  nephew  who  bore  the  same  name,  were  also  Swiss  min- 
isters who  entered  the  service  of  the  Church  of  England. 
They  labored  faithfully,  but  the  fruit  of  their  labors  was 
not  gathered  by  the  church  in  which  they  were  born. 

More  interesting  in  connection  with  our  present  work  is 
the  career  of  two  men  who  more  justly  deserve  to  be  re- 
garded as  pioneers  of  the  German  Reformed  Church  in 
this  country.  Until  recently  little  was  known  concerning 
them,  and  the  close  resemblance,  if  not  the  identity,  of 
their  names  was  regarded  as  a  curious  coincidence.  The 
researches  of  the  Rev.  William  J.  Hinke  have,  however, 
removed  many  difficulties,  and  the  main  facts  in  their  his- 
tory are  now  sufficiently  plain.  In  December,  1898,  Pro- 
fessor Hinke  contributed  a  series  of  articles  on  this  subject 
to  the  Reformed  Church  Messenger ,  and  these  we  shall 
chiefly  follow  in  relating  a  somewhat   remarkable  history. 

The  Haegers. 
In  the  brief  records  of  the  great  Palatine  migration  of 
1709  the  name  of  John  Frederick  Haeger  frequently  ap- 
pears.50 He  seems  to  have  been  the  only  clergyman  who 
was  specially  commissioned  to  minister  to  a  great  multitude 
of  Reformed  people.  The  royal  family  of  England  was 
Lutheran,  and  the  Lutheran  pastors  of  London  were  its 
official  agents  in  caring  for  the  religious  necessities  of  the 
Palatines.     No  doubt  these  pastors,  as  well  as  the  pastors 


48  "  Der  Deutsche  Pionier,"  Vol.  14,  p.  9. 

49  Dalcho's  "  History  of  the  P.  E.  Church  of  South  Carolina,"  p.  386. 

50  The  orthography  of  the  name  varies  greatly.     It  has  been  written  Hager, 
Hagar,  Heger  and  Hoeger,  but  Haeger  is  probably  most  correct. 


The  Haegers.  51 

of  the  German  Reformed  Church  of  London,  did  all  they 
could  for  the  Reformed  exiles  ;  but  it  seems  probable  that 
for  some  time  the  latter  were  to  a  great  extent  suffered  to 
shift  for  themselves.  At  last,  on  the  20th  of  December, 
the  Bishop  of  London,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  '*  S.  P.  G.," 
ordained  John  Frederick  Haeger  for  special  service  among 
the  Palatines  who  were  about  to  be  sent  to  the  colony  of 
New  York.  An  old  pamphlet  relates,  in  a  style  intended 
to  be  humorous,  how  he  was  immediately  called  upon  to 
perform  ministerial  acts.51 

John  Frederick  Haeger  was  born  in  Siegen,  then  a  city 
in  the  principality  of  Nassau-Dillenberg,  in  1684,  and  bap- 
tized on  the  18th  Sunday  after  Trinity  of  that  year.  He 
was  the  third  son  of  John  Henry  Haeger,  who,  as  we  shall 
see  hereafter,  was  a  teacher  in  the  Latin  school  of  Siegen, 
and  subsequently  became  pastor  of  a  village  in  its  vicinity. 
The  son  was  carefully  educated — first  at  home  and  after- 
wards at  the  universities  of  Herborn  and  Lingen.  Certifi- 
cates are  extant  which  indicate  his  proficiency  in  scholar- 
ship. On  the  14th  of  February,  1708,  he  was  examined 
by  the  consistory  of  Siegen  and  licensed  to  preach  the 
Gospel.  The  reasons  which  induced  him  to  leave  his 
fatherland  are  unknown  ;  but  in  the  following  year  we  find 
him  in  London,  where  on  the  20th  of  December,  1709,  he 
was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  for  service  "  among 
the  Palatines,  New  York."  The  "  S.  P.  G."  granted  him 
an  annual  salary  of  £50,  together  with  a  present  of  £15 
for  books. 

During  his  voyage  to  America  Haeger  suffered  greatly. 
He  says  in  his  first  report  to  the  Society  :  "I  was  hardly  a 
fort-night  on  ship-board  but  a  violent  fever  seized  me  and 

11  "  The  German  Exodus  to  Pennsylvania  in  1709,"  by  F.  R.  Diffenderffer, 
P-  145- 


52  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

kept  me  for  six  weeks,  even  almost  beyond  hopes  of  re- 
covery ;  which  has  been  very  expensive  to  me,  our  ships 
having  lain  long  in  the  harbours,  especially  that  of  Ports- 
mouth, insomuch  that  I  have  not  brought  one  farthing 
ashore." 

On  the  19th  of  June,  17 10,  Haeger  arrived  in  New 
York.  Almost  immediately  afterwards  he  began  to  preach 
in  the  City  Hall ;  but  when  Governor  Hunter  removed  the 
Palatines  up  the  Hudson  he  accompanied  them.  Here 
for  several  years  he  ministered  to  the  Reformed  people,  as 
Kocherthal  did  to  the  Lutherans.  In  his  letters  he  gives 
a  full  account  of  his  trials  and  privations.  "At  first," 
says  Professor  Hinke,  "  he  lived  in  a  little  log  hut  at  Anns- 
bury,  but  later  on  he  was  able  to  build  a  frame  house, 
large  enough  to  hold  about  200  people ;  '  the  rest  had  to 
stay  without.'  Here  he  conducted  his  services  for  many 
years,  till  the  Palatines  dispersed  through  the  whole  Hud- 
son valley  and  the  neighboring  valleys.  Then  he  became 
an  itinerant  preacher,  travelling  almost  continuously  from 
one  settlement  to  another,  dispensing  to  the  hungry  souls 
of  his  hearers  the  bread  of  life  and  the  sacraments  of  the 
Church." 

Haeger  reported  that  on  the  15th  of  August,  171 1,  he 
baptized  an  Indian,  "  using  great  pains  in  instructing 
him."  He  devoted  some  time  to  the  study  of  the  Indian 
language,  and  collected  a  small  vocabulary,  which  appears 
to  be  lost.  About  the  same  time  he  served  as  chaplain  to 
three  hundred  Palatines  who  engaged  in  an  unsuccessful 
expedition  against  the  French. 

When  in  1712-13  a  large  number  of  the  Palatines  re- 
moved to  Schoharie,  Haeger  remained  in  the  original  set- 
tlement. He  seems,  however,  to  have  made  frequent 
journeys  to  Schoharie,  and  it  was  here  that  on  the  22d  of 


The  Hudson    Valley.  53 

November,  1720,  he  married  Conrad  Weiser  to  his  "  Anna 
Eva."62  Weiser  calls  him  "  reformirter  Predigcr"  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that — notwithstanding  his  relations 
to  the  "  S.  P.  G." — he  was  popularly  regarded  as  belong- 
ing to  the  Reformed  Church.  That  he  sought  to  induce 
his  people  to  "  conform"  to  the  Episcopal  Church  is  suf- 
ficiently plain ;  but  though  under  the  circumstances  they 
submitted  to  the  use  of  the  liturgy,  it  does  not  seem  likely 
that  most  of  them  appreciated  the  extent  of  the  changes 
which  it  was  proposed  to  introduce.  It  is  possible  that 
the  London  Society  had  some  inkling  of  the  state  of  af- 
fairs when,  in  1717,  Haeger's  stipend  was  suddenly  dis- 
continued. It  was  said,  indeed,  by  way  of  extenuation, 
that  the  design  of  the  Society  was  "chiefly  the  conversion 
of  heathens  and  infidels  " ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
it  was  elsewhere  making  strenuous  efforts  to  gather  the 
Dutch  and  Germans  into  the  Church  of  England.  There 
can,  at  any  rate,  be  no  doubt  that  the  congregations  which 
Haeger  founded  did  not  regard  themselves  as  having  sep- 
arated from  the  church  of  the  fathers  :  for  they  were  sub- 
sequently served  by  a  long  succession  of  Reformed  min- 
isters. 

On  the  15th  of  November,  1715,  the  Rev.  John  Fred- 
erick Haeger  was  married  to  Anna  Maria  Rohrbach.  The 
marriage  was  solemnized  by  the  Rev.  Joshua  Kocherthal. 
At  this  time  Haeger  lived  in  the  village  of  Queensbury, 
afterwards  known  as  Kingsbury. 

The  few  remaining  years  of  Haeger's  life  were  full  of 
privation  and  suffering.  He  began  the  erection  of  a  church 
in  Kingsbury  in  1715,  but  was  unable  to  complete  it  for 
lack  of  funds.  In  a  journey  from  Schoharie  to  Albany  he 
was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  seriously  injured.     When 

52  "Hall.  Nachr.,"  1,  449.     Rupp's  "  History  of  Berks  County,"  p.  200. 


54  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

he  was  brought  in  a  wagon  to  his  home,  the  party  was  at- 
tacked by  a  number  of  drunken  Indians  who  nearly  killed 
him.  He  continued  to  work  for  some  time  longer,  but 
died  in  the  winter  of  1721,  or  the  spring  of  1722.  In  1721 
the  "  S.  P.  G."  voted  him  £50  for  past  services,  but  he 
did  not  live  to  receive  the  gift. 

Such  is  the  brief  story  of  the  labors  of  the  man  who 
must  be  regarded  as  the  pioneer  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church  in  the  province  of  New  York.  It  is  in  itself  suf- 
ficiently strange,  but  derives  additional  interest  from  the  fact 
that  it  is  now  plain  that  the  pastor  of  the  earliest  Reformed 
Church  in  Virginia  was  closely  related  to  the  missionary 
in  New  York.  That  the  two  men  must  have  occasionally 
communicated  may  perhaps  be  taken  for  granted  ;  but  on 
this  point  there  is  much  obscurity,  which  future  investi- 
gations may  perhaps  remove.  Indeed  we  may  venture  to 
assert  that  the  fact  of  this  relation  would  hardly  have 
suggested  itself  to  any  investigator,  if  it  had  not  been 
rendered  certain  by  the  records  of  the  fatherland.  The 
traces  of  the  activity  of  the  Virginia  pioneer — whose  name 
has  generally  been  written  "  Hoeger  " — have  always  been 
regarded  as  peculiarly  vague  and  elusive ;  but  it  is  now 
possible  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  his  somewhat  remarkable 
career.63 

John  Henry  Haeger,  the  son  of  Henry  Haeger,  was 
born  about  1644  in  Antshausen,  a  village  in  Nassau.  Of 
his  early  life  nothing  is  known,  but  in  1678  he  became 
teacher  of  the  third  class  of  the  Latin  school  at  Siegen. 
On  the  3d  of  December,  1678,  he  was  married  to  Anna 
Catharine  Friesenhagen,  daughter  of  Jacob  Friesenhagen, 


63  For  further  information  we  refer  to  Professor  Hinke's  articles  in  the 
Reformed  Church  Messenger  (1899)  and  to  Gen.  John  E.  Roller's  address  at 
the  Sesqui-Centennial  services  held  in  Hagerstown,  Md.,  Oct.  20,  1897. 


Virginia.  55 

mayor  of  Freudenberg.  They  had  a  large  family,  of 
whom  John  Frederick  was  the  third  son. 

For  many  years  John  Henry  Haeger  was  connected  with 
the  Latin  school  at  Siegen,  serving  after  1689  as  conrector, 
or  assistant  rector.  That  he  was  ordained  a  minister  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  in  1703  he  was  promoted  to  the 
pastorate  at  Fischbach.  Here  he  remained  until  about 
171 1  when,  as  we  are  informed  by  Cuno,  the  historian  of 
Siegen,  he  resigned  his  pastorate  and  went  to  America. 

At  this  time  Haeger  must  have  been  nearly  or  quite 
seventy  years  old.  The  reasons  which  induced  him  to 
undertake  so  dangerous  a  journey  at  his  advanced  years 
must  of  course  be  left  to  conjecture,  though  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  fever  for  emigration  nowhere  burned 
more  fiercely  than  at  Siegen ;  and,  of  course,  the  enthu- 
siasm of  his  son,  who  was  even  then  in  America,  may  not 
have  been  without  influence. 

The  time  and  circumstances  of  Haeger's  removal  to 
America  have  been  a  subject  of  some  discussion.  It  has 
been  generally  believed  that  he  accompanied  Baron  Graf- 
fenried's  colony  to  North  Carolina,  and  subsequently  re- 
moved to  Virginia  with  some  of  the  survivors.  According 
to  recent  researches,  this  supposition  is,  however,  no  longer 
tenable.54  In  1713  Haeger  petitioned  the  "  S.  P.  G."  for 
aid  to  go  to  America,  and  the  following  statement  appears 
on  the  journal  of  the  society  under  date  of  Oct.  2,  17 13. 
"  Reported  from  the  committee  that  they  had  taken  into 
consideration  the  petition  of  Mr.  Hager,  father  of  Mr. 
Hager,  the  society's  missionary  among  the  Palatines  in  the 


84  The  recent  biography  of  Graffenried,  published  by  the  Historical  So- 
ciety of  Berne,  informs  us  (p.  25)  that  there  was  no  minister  in  this  colony  of 
1710,  but  that  Graffenried  himself  had  been  authorized  by  the  bishop  of  Lon- 
don to  perform  baptisms  and  marriages. 


s6 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


province  of  New  York,  to  them  referred,  and  that  they 
agreed  as  their  opinion  that  the  case  of  said  Mr.  Hager 
does  not  properly  lie  before  the  society."  It  is,  therefore, 
evident  that  in  October,  17 13,  Haeger  had  not  yet  crossed 
the  ocean,  and  the  fact  appears  from  other  sources  that  he 
actually  came  across  with  a  company  that  arrived  in  Vir- 
ginia in  April,  i7I4- 

Concerning  this  colony  of  twelve  families  there  has  been 
much  confusion,  but  the  facts  appear  to  be  briefly  as  fol- 
lows :  When  Graffenried  came  to  Virginia  after  the  mis- 
fortune which  had  overtaken  his  colony  in  North  Carolina, 
he  was  desirous  of  settling  some  of  the  survivors,  but  in 
consequence  of  difficulties  concerning  the  title  of  lands  the 
arrangements  were  not  concluded.  He  arrived  in  London 
at  Easter,  1713,  and  there  found  waiting  for  him  a  company 

of  forty  miners  whom  he  had 
previously  engaged  to  work  for 
Governor  Spotswood  of  Vir- 
ginia, who  was  the  pioneer  of 
mining  industries  in  that  col- 
ony. At  first  Graffenried  tried 
to  induce  them  to  return  to  their 
native  country,  but  they  were 
anxious  to  emigrate,  and  at  last 
two  Virginia  merchants  ad- 
vanced the  money  for  their 
passage,  which  was  probably  re- 
funded by  Governor  Spotswood,  for  whom  the  immigrants 
engaged  themselves  to  labor  for  a  term  of  four  years. 
Graffenried  returned  to  Switzerland. 

It  was  with  this  company  that  Haeger  came  to  America. 
How  the  Governor  settled  them  at  Germanna,  in  what  is 
now  Orange  County,  has  been  elsewhere  related,  and  we 


ARMS   OF   VIRGINIA. 


Governor  Spots-wood.  57 

need  not  enter  into  particulars.  The  first  settlers  were 
mostly  Reformed,  though  there  were  several  Lutherans. M 
The  number,  however,  rapidly  increased.  A  second  com- 
pany arrived  in  171 7,  and  these  appear  to  have  been  mainly 
Lutherans.  Afterwards  there  was  a  third  company  of 
forty  families,  concerning  whom  we  have  no  particulars. 
It  is  possible  too — though  we  have  no  direct  documentary 
evidence  on  the  subject — that  among  the  early  settlers  there 
were  some  who  had  originally  belonged  to  Graffenried's 
colony  in  North  Carolina.  During  this  early  period,  how- 
ever, Haeger  was  the  only  pastor. 

In  1 7 14  John  Fontaine  and  John  Clayton,  of  Williams- 
burg, visited  Germanna,  and  have  left  us  an  interesting 
account  of  the  place  and  of  the  conditions  of  the  early 
settlers.  "  We  went,"  says  this  account,  "  to  the  German 
minister's  house,  and  finding  nothing  to  eat,  lived  upon 
our  own  provisions  and  lay  upon  the  straw.  Our  beds 
not  being  easy,  we  got  up  at  break  of  day,  and  in  a  hard 
rain  walked  about  the  town,  which  is  palisaded  with  sticks, 
stuck  in  the  ground  close  to  each  other,  and  of  substance 
to  resist  musket  shot.  There  are  but  nine  families  and 
nine  houses  all  in  a  line  and  before  every  house,  twenty 
feet  distant,  they  have  sheds  for  their  hogs  and  hens,  so 
that  hogstys  on  one  side  and  dwellings  on  the  other,  make 
a  street.  The  place  staked  in  is  a  pentagon  regularly  laid 
out,  and  in  the  center  is  a  blockhouse  with  five  sides, 
answering  to  the  five  sides  of  the  great  enclosure.  There 
are  loop  holes  in  it  from  which  you  can  see  all  of  the  in- 
side of  the  great  enclosure.  This  is  intended  for  a  retreat, 
in  case  of  their  not  being  able  to  defend  the  palisades  from 
the  Indians.  They  use  the  blockhouse  for  divine  service. 
They  go  to  prayers  once  a  day  and  have  two  services  on 

55  "Hall.  Nachr.,"  new  ed.,  1886,  I.,  p.  576. 


58  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Sunday.  We  went  to  hear  them  perform  their  service, 
which  is  done  in  their  own  language,  which  we  did  not 
understand,  but  they  seemed  very  devout  and  sing  the 
Psalms  very  well.  This  settlement  is  (1714)  thirty  miles 
from  any  inhabitant.  They  live  very  miserably.  For  want 
of  provisions  we  were  obliged  to  go.  We  got  from  the 
minister  a  bit  of  smoked  beef  and  cabbage  and  gave  him 
thirty  shillings  and  took  our  leave.  In  less  than  three 
hours  on  our  way  we  saw  nineteen  deer,  and  we  lodged  at 
Mr.  Smith's  at  the  falls  of  the  Rappahannock." 

It  is  said  that  the  Germans  were  dissatisfied  with  the 
treatment  which  they  received  from  Gov.  Spotswood. 
At  any  rate  the  Reformed  element,  in  1718,56  left  Ger- 
manna,  and  founded  a  settlement  which  they  called  Ger- 
mantown  in  what  is  now  Fauquier  County.57  They  were 
accompanied  hy  their  pastor  and  by  their  excellent  school- 
master, John  Holtzclaw.  The  elders  of  the  congregation 
were  Johann  Jost  Merdten  and  Hans  Jacob  Richter.  The 
descendants  of  these  men  now  call  themselves  Martin  and 
Rector. 

The  Lutherans  appear  to  have  remained  at  Germanna 
some  time  longer,  but  finally  they  also  removed,  and 
founded  the  "Hebron"  Church,  in  Madison  County,58  which 
is  still  in  existence.  As  early  as  1724,  Germanna  appears 
to  have  been  entirely  deserted  by  the  Germans.59 

The  church  built  at  Germantovvn  was  in  all  probability 
the  earliest  edifice  erected  exclusively  for  purposes  of  wor- 
ship by  a  German  Reformed  congregation  in  this  country. 
It  has   long   since  disappeared,  but  its  foundations  could 


66  Gen.  Roller's  Address. 

57  "The  site  of  this  place  is  on  a  small  stream,  called  Licking  Run,  about 
eight  miles  below  Warrenton,  in  Fauquier  County." — Roller. 

58  "  Hallesche  Nachrichten,"  I.,  pp.  577-585  (note). 

59  Hugh  Jones,  "The  Present  State  of  Virginia,"  p.  59. 


An  Appeal.  59 

until  recently  be  traced.  According  to  the  autobiography 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  Kemper,  an  eminent  Presbyterian 
divine,  who  was  himself  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers,  there  were  both  a  church  and  school-building  at 
Germantown,  and  German  was  the  common  language  of 
school,  church,  and  business  "for  sixty  years  before  the 
Revolutionary  War." 

When  the  people  of  Germantown  set  out  to  erect  a 
church,  they  naturally  appealed  for  aid  to  their  brethren 
across  the  sea.  First  they  turned  to  the  London  Society, 
as  their  pastor  had  vainly  done  on  a  previous  occasion. 
Their  petition,  which  bears  traces  of  having  been  written 
for  them  by  a  strong  Anglican,  was  presented,  Oct.  2, 
1 7 19,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  it  brought  the  desired 
result.  Many  writers  have  quoted  from  this  interesting 
document,  but  it  may  be  worth  while  to  reproduce  the  fol- 
lowing section  : 

"  For  the  enjoyment  of  the  ministries  of  religion  there 
will  be  a  necessity  of  building  a  small  church  in  the  place 
of  their  settlement  and  of  maintaining  a  minister,  who  shall 
catechize,  read  and  perform  divine  service  among  them 
in  the  German  tongue,  which  is  the"  only  tongue  they  do 
yet  understand.  There  went  over,  indeed,  with  the  first 
twelve  families  one  minister,  named  Henry  Haeger,  a  very 
sober,  honest  man  of  about  75  years  of  age,  but  being 
likely  to  be  past  service  in  a  short  time,  they  have  empow- 
ered Mr.  Jacob  Christopher  Zollikofer,  of  St.  Gall,  Switz- 
erland, to  go  into  Europe  and  there  to  obtain,  if  possible, 
some  contributions  from  pious  and  charitable  Christians 
towards  the  building  of  their  church,  and  bringing  over 
with  him  a  young  German  minister  to  assist  the  aforesaid 
Mr.  Haeger  in  the  ministry  of  religion,  and  to  succeed 
him  when  he  shall  die  ;  to  get  him  ordained  in  England 


60  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

by  the  Right  Reverend,  the  Lord  Bishop  of  London,  and 
to  bring  over  with  him  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land translated  into  High  Dutch,  which  they  were  desirous 
to  use  in  public  worship." 

The  results  of  Mr.  Zollikofer's  missionyare  unknown  ; 
but  some  years  ago  Mr.  H.  S.  Dotterer  discovered  in  the 
Extraordinaire  Kaiserliche-Reichs- Post  Zeitung  of  June 
15,  1720,  a  somewhat  similar  appeal  for  contributions  for 
the  erection  of  a  church  and  schoolhouse  in  Virginia,  and 
this  was  probably  connected  with  the  same  general  move- 
ment. In  this  appeal  there  appears  to  be  a  slight  confu- 
sion in  facts  and  figures,  but  the  paragraph  which  is  his- 
torically most  interesting  reads  as  follows : 

"  It  will  be  remembered  by  everybody  how  some  years 
ago  several  thousand  people  of  both  sexes  and  different 
religions  emigrated  from  the  Palatinate  and  neighboring 
places  to  be  transported  to  America.  Although  a  part  of 
this  people  died  and  a  part  returned  to  Germany,  3'et  700 
persons  were  sent  to  Carolina  and  300  families  to  New 
York.  But  72  families  came  to  Virginia  ;  the  largest  part 
of  them,  however,  had  to  pay  the  passage,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  country,  with  several  years  of  servitude 
among  the  Englishmen  there ;  the  rest  being  free  consist 
of  thirty-two  families,  of  whom  twelve  are  Evangelical 
Reformed  and  twenty  Evangelical  Lutheran.  They,  to- 
gether with  an  old  Reformed  minister,  Henry  Hager, 
seventy-six  years  of  age,  have  established  a  colony  in  the 
year  1714  in  the  said  Virginia  called  Germantown  on  the 
Brapenhanck  (Rappahannock)  River." 

John  Henry  Haeger  died  in  1737.  His  will,  written  in 
1733,  was  admitted  to  probate  in  Prince  Williams  County, 
on  March  26,  1737.  In  it  he  speaks  of  his  wife,  Anna 
Catharine,  as  still  living.     The  will  is  signed  "  H.  Haeger, 


Haeger's  Death.  61 


"S 


Verbi  Dei  Minister."  He  was  evidently  poor  in  this 
world's  goods  ;  but — as  is  not  unusual  when  ministers  pass 
away — he  left  "  a  parcel  of  books  and  one  large  Bible." 

According  to  the  dates  here  given  Haeger  must  have 
been  nearly  or  quite  ninety-three  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  This  great  age  might  naturally  lead  one  to  suspect 
an  error ;  but  it  will  be  observed  that  it  is  fairly  well  sub- 
stantiated, and  that,  at  any  rate,  it  cannot  be  far  out  of  the 
way.  Among  his  numerous  descendants  was  the  Hon. 
James  Lawson  Kemper,  Governor  of  Virginia. 

General  Roller  presents  a  strong  argument  to  show  that 
some  of  the  members  of  the  church  at  Germantown  re- 
moved to  Rockingham  County  and  these  founded  the 
"  Friedens  Kirche,"  "  the  mother  of  six  or  eight  churches 
in  that  and  the  neighboring  county  of  Augusta."  This, 
he  holds,  is  the  site  of  New  Germantown,  which  Schlat- 
ter visited  during  his  memorable  journey.  Rupp  in- 
forms us  that  Rockingham  and  Augusta  Counties  were 
settled  prior  to  1746,60  and  a  connection  between  these  early 
settlements  is,  therefore,  altogether  probable.  It  is,  at  any 
rate,  pleasant  to  believe  that  though  Haeger's  church  died 
early,  it  became  before  its  death  the  mother  of  Reformed 
Churches  in  the  Valley  in  Virginia. 


60  "  Fireside  History,"  MS. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Neshaminy  and  Germantown. 


Pioneers  in  Pennsylvania — A  Dutch  Settlement — Paulus  Van  Vlecq — 
White  Marsh  and  Germantown. 


^"HAT  there  were  Re- 
vU  formed  people  among 
the  earliest  settlers  of  Penn- 
sylvania may  be  regarded  as 
certain.  It  has  been  claimed 
in  behalf  of  certain  well- 
known  Reformed  laymen — 
such  as  Henry  Frey  and  the 
father  of  Jacob  Reiff,  of 
Skippack — that  they  came  to 
this  country  before  the  arrival 
of  Wm.  Penn.  They  were 
here,  at  any  rate,  very  soon 
after  that  event.  Isaac  Dil- 
beck,  an  energetic  member  of  the  Reformed  Church, 
arrived  in  1683,  in  the  same  vessel  with  Pastorius. 

The  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Julius  F.  Sachse  for  an  ex- 
ract  from  a  letter  dated  Germantown,  February  12,  1684, 

(62) 


Neshaminy.  63 

written  by  one  of  the  Van  Bebbers  to  the  elder  Jawert,  in 
which  the  writer  says  : 

"  Man  findet  in  Pennsylvania  (auserhalb  uns)  Luther- 
ische  und  Reformirte.  Die  ersten  haben  zwo  Prediger, 
ihre  Friichte  aber  geben  Zeugniss  dass  sie  Lehrer  sind 
ohne  Geist.  Zu  Neucastell  wohnen  meist  Hollander. 
Die  Reformirten  haben  alda  anitzo  keinen  Prediger.  Die 
Papisten  alda  haben  keine  Versamlung." 

Translation. 

"There  are  in  Pennsylvania  (besides  ourselves)  Luth- 
erans and  Reformed.  The  former  have  two  preachers, 
but  their  fruits  bear  testimony  that  they  are  teachers  with- 
out spirit.  In  New  Castle  most  of  the  inhabitants  are 
Hollanders.  The  Reformed  have  at  present  no  preacher 
there.     The  Papists  at  that  place  have  no  congregation." 

So  far  as  the  Reformed  Church  is  concerned  this  extract 
appears  to  refer  most  directly  to  New  Castle,  Delaware, 
where  we  know  a  Dutch  Reformed  congregation  had  been 
founded  as  early  as  1654.  The  statement,  that  besides 
the  sect-people,  there  were  Lutherans  and  Reformed  in 
Pennsylvania  at  that  early  date  is,  however,  decidedly 
interesting. 

There  is  no  proof  that  the  church  in  New  Castle  ever 
exerted  any  influence  beyond  its  immediate  vicinity ;  but 
it  is  to  a  little  Dutch  settlement  in  Bucks  County,  Penna., 
that,  at  a  somewhat  later  date,  we  must  look  for  the  first 
signs  of  missionary  activity. 

This  settlement  was  called  Neshaminy,  deriving  its  name 
from  a  creek  which  enters  the  Delaware  below  Bristol. 
That  a  Dutch  settlement  was  founded  in  Pennsylvania 
may  appear  remarkable ;  but  it  was  in  fact  "  an  overflow" 
from  New  Jersey,  where  Hollanders  were  numerous. 


64  The  Reformed   Church  in  America. 

In  this  region  a  congregation  was  organized  on  the  20th 
of  May,  1710,  by  the  Rev.  Paulus  Van  Vlecq,  who  had 
previously  been  a  schoolmaster  at  Kinderhook,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  irregularly  ordained  by  Freeman.  The 
congregation  which  he  founded  consisted  of  several  preach- 
ing points,  and  was  officially  known  as  "  Bensalem  and 
Sammeny"  (Neshaminy).  The  Bensalem  section  was  in 
1 7 19  reorganized  as  a  Presbyterian  Church,  and  retained 
the  early  records  ; G1  but  Neshaminy  (or  "  Sammeny  ")  re- 
mained Reformed,  and  subsequently  exerted  an  important 
influence  in  the  organization  of  the  German  Churches.62 
Van  Vlecq  himself  joined  the  Presbyterians,  but  is  said 
to  have  returned  to  Europe  in  17 15. 

It  is  evident  that  Van  Vlecq  regarded  himself  as  mis- 
sionary to  a  somewhat  extensive  field.  The  Bensalem 
record  says:  "Den  20  May  int  jaer  onser  heeren  Jesu 
Christie,  1 7 10,  is  Mr.  Paulus  Van  Vlecq  bevestigt  voor 
pastor  of  herder  en  Leeraar  in  de  kercke  Jesu  Christie  tot 
Shamenie  bensalem  en  Germantown  ende  omleggende 
Dorpen."  On  the  day  after  the  organization  of  the  church 
and  his  own  installation,  Van  Vlecq  installed  Hendrick 
Van  Dyck  and  Leendert  van  der  Grift  as  elders,  and 
Stoffel  van  Sandt  and  Nicolaus  van  der  Grift  as  deacons 
of  the  church  at  Neshaminy. 

A  few  days  later  pastor  Van  Vlecq  started  on  his  earli- 
est missionary  journey.  A  little  further  to  the  west  along 
the  banks  of  the  Skippack  Creek  there  was  a  little  settle- 
ment of  Hollanders  and  Plattdeutsch.  Here,  on  the  29th 
of  May,   the    Neshaminy    pastor    baptized    a    number    of 

61 A  transcript  of  these  records  may  be  found  in  the  library  of  the  Histori- 
cal Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

62  This  congregation  was  until  1772  ecclesiastically  connected  with  the 
German  churches,  but  has  since  then  belonged  to  the  Reformed  (Dutch) 
Church  in  America.  The  charge  now  consists  of  two  congregations,  North 
and  South  Hampton. 


White  Marsh.  6$ 

children.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  founded  a  church  at 
Skippack,  but  at  White  Marsh  (  Wytmcs)  he  ordained 
elders  and  deacons  on  the  4th  of  June  of  the  same  year.  The 
elders  were  Hans  Hendricks  Meels  and  Evert  Ten  Heuven,cs 
and  Isaac  Dilbeck  and  William  De  Wees  were  deacons. 
Of  these  persons  the  deacons  are  best  remembered.  Isaac 
Dilbeck  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Germantown ;  but  in 
1700  he  purchased  five  hundred  acres  in  the  township  of 
White  Marsh,  where  he  probably  subsequently  resided. 
Pastorius  mentions  him  kindly  in  his  correspondence,64 
and  he  was  evidently  a  worthy  man.  On  Christmas  Day, 
17 10,  he  was  promoted  to  the  eldership  of  the  church  at 
White  Marsh,  and  for  many  years  remained  one  of  its 
leaders.  When  John  Philip  Boehm  took  charge  of  the 
congregation  in  1725  he  was  still  an  active  member,  and 
as  late  as  1730  he  was  an  officer  of  the  church. 

William  De  Wees  was  a  native  of  Leeuwarden,  in  Fries- 
land,  and  came  to  America  with  others  of  his  family  about 
1689,  when  he  was  about  thirteen  years  old.  In  the  same 
year  his  sister,  Wilhelmina,  was  married  in  New  York  to 
Nicholas  Rittenhouse.  Soon  afterwards  the  De  Wees 
family  removed  to  Germantown,  Pennsylvania,  and  in  due 
time  William  became  a  man  of  wealth  and  influence.  In 
1 7 10  he  built  the  second  paper  mill  in  America,  which — as 
Mr.  Dotterer  informs  us — was  situated  "  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Wissahickon,  in  that  part  of  Germantown  called 
Crefeld." 

William  De  Wees  and  his  wife — as  well  as  other  mem- 
bers of  the  same  family — were  members  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  White  Marsh.  Indeed,  it  is  evident  that  De 
Wees  was  regarded  as,  in  some  sense,  the  patriarch  of 
the  congregation.     For  twenty  years,  at  least,  during  the 

63  This  name  is  now  generally  written  De  Haven  though  in  early  records  it 
sometimes  appears  as  Im  Hoff  and  Inden  Hoff. 

64  Dotterer's  "  Historical  Notes,"  p.  15. 


66  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

pastorate  of  John  Philip  Boehm,  the  Reformed  people  met 
at  his  house  for  worship,  and  his  death,  which  occurred 
March  3,  1745,  was  a  blow  from  which  the  little  flock  was 
never  able  to  recover. 

The  other  members  of  the  first  consistory  are  not  en- 
tirely unknown.  Evert  Ten  Heuven,  as  the  Dutch  pastor 
wrote  his  name,  was  a  native  of  Muhlheim  on  the  Ruhr, 
and  came  to  America  in  1698.  Hans  Hendricks  Meels 
was  in  1701  chosen  Recorder  of  Germantown. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  Van  Vlecq  organized  a  Re- 
formed congregation  in  Germantown,  but  this  appears  to 
be  doubtful.  It  is  true  that  he  calls  himself  pastor  of 
"  Shamenie,  Bensalem  and  Germantown  and  neighboring 
villages,"  but  this  statement  must,  we  think,  be  taken  in  a 
very  general  sense,  merely  claiming  pastoral  care  of  the 
Reformed  people  residing  in  these  places.  It  will  be  ob- 
served that  some  of  the  leading  members  of  the  White 
Marsh  congregation  resided  in  Germantown,  which  would 
hardly  have  been  the  case  if  a  congregation  had  been  or- 
ganized in  the  latter  place. 

The  beginnings  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  German- 
town,  Pa.,  are  very  obscure.  It  has  been  asserted65  that  a 
Reformed  church  was  built  there  in  1719  and  that  the 
Swedish  pastor,  Dylander,  laid  the  corner  stone,  but  there 
is  evidently  some  confusion  here,  as  Dylander  did  not  ar- 
rive in  America  until  1737.  It  is  also  stated  that  "  after 
1725  the  congregation  had  a  bell  on  its  place  of  worship"  ; 
but  this  assertion  seems  to  be  founded  on  the  fact  that  the 
bell  on  the  old  church  bore  that  date.  It  is  plain,  how- 
ever, that  the  bell  may  have  been  cast  and  dated  before 
the  erection  of  the  church. 

We  do  not  desire  to  intimate  that  the  Reformed  people 
of  Germantown  may  not  have  occasionally  held  religious 

66  Halle  Reports,  Reading  ed.,  p.  62. 


Germantown.  67 

services  at  an  earlier  date  than  has  generally  been  sup- 
posed. As  early  as  1686  a  meeting-house  was  built  "  for 
the  benefit  of  the  community,"  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
Van  Vlecq,  or  some  other  Dutch  dominie,  may  have  occa- 
sionally occupied  the  pulpit.  Heinrich  Bernhard  Koster, 
who  was  probably  the  earliest  preacher  in  Germantown,  is 
said  to  have  been  born  at  Blumenberg  (or  Blomberg)  in 
Lippe-Detmold — a  Reformed  principality  ;  but  at  this  time 
his  attitude  towards  the  Reformed  Church  appears  to  have 
been  indifferent,  if  not  hostile.  There  is,  in  brief,  no  proof 
that  an  organized  Reformed  congregation  existed  in  Ger- 
mantown in  the  days  of  the  earliest  pioneers.  For  the 
present  we  shall  hold  to  the  view  of  earlier  historians,  that 
the  Reformed  Church  of  Germantown  properly  dates  its 
origin  from  the  religious  meetings  which  were  held  in  1726, 
or  soon  afterwards,  by  the  pious  turner,  John  Bechtel,  who 
subsequently  became  the  pastor  of  the  congregation. 

The  question  might  here  be  asked :  In  what  language 
were  the  religious  services  of  the  Reformed  Church  con- 
ducted in  those  early  days?  That  the  Dutch  language 
was  exclusively  used  in  the  church  at  Neshaminy  can 
hardly  be  doubted ;  but  it  might  be  hard  to  prove  that  Van 
Vlecq  was  unable  to  speak  German.  On  the  other  hand 
Boehm,  who  became  pastor  at  White  Marsh  some  years 
afterwards,  was  a  German,  but  he  could  write  Dutch  well 
enough,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  could  speak  it  after  a 
fashion.  It  is  said  that  many  of  the  people  of  German- 
town  and  its  vicinity  at  first  spoke  "  Crefeld-Hollandish," 
a  sort  of  lingua  franca  that  was  derived  from  the  lower 
Rhine.  No  doubt  the  language  of  the  pulpit  was  of  the 
same  general  character ;  or  possibly  the  minister  may  have 
begun  in  one  language  and  then  have  glided  insensibly  into 
the  other.  In  recent  times  we  have  sometimes  heard 
German  and  English  treated  in  a  very  similar  fashion. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Samuel  Guldix, 


Pietist  and  Pioneer — Earliest  German  Reformed  Minister  in  Pennsylva- 
nia. 

/^HAT  Samuel  Guldin 
\&  was  the  earliest  or- 
dained German  minister  of 
the  Reformed  Church  in 
Pennsylvania  appears  to  be 
certain.  Apart  from  a  vague 
tradition  among  his  descen- 
dants there  was  nothing 
known  about  him  in  the 
church  of  this  country  until 
a  few  years  ago.  In  1863 
his  aged  namesake  and  de- 
scendant, Samuel  Guldin,  of  Berks  County,  told  the  writer 
that  he  had  been  informed  that  his  grandfather  had  been  a 
Reformed  minister ;  but  he  could  relate  no  particulars  of 
his  career.  To  have  been  strictly  correct  he  ought  to  have 
said  that  the  minister  was  the  grandfather  of  his  grand- 
father. 

The  appearance,  in  1885,  of  Hildeburn's  "  Issues  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Press "  first  directed  the  attention  of  the 
writer  to  the  fact  that  Guldin  had,  in   1743,  published  a 

(68) 


Pietism.  69 

book  on  the  title-page  of  which  he  is  styled  "late  preacher 
in  the  three  principal  churches  of  Berne,  in  Switzerland." 
Here  was  a  clue  which  deserved  to  be  followed.  If  Gul- 
din  ever  occupied  a  position  of  such  prominence  it  seemed 
probable  that  his  name  was  still  remembered  in  the  father- 
land. A  correspondence  with  the  city  librarian  of  Berne, 
and  with  other  gentlemen  in  Switzerland,  led  to  the  collec- 
tion of  the  material  for  an  article  in  the  Reformed  Quar- 
terly Review,  for  July,  1892,  entitled  "Samuel  Guldin, 
Pietist  and  Pioneer."  Some  additional  facts  have  since  been 
discovered,  but  the  outlines  of  the  story  have  proved  more 
nearly  correct  than  the  author  had  ventured  to  anticipate. 
Though  the  American  career  of  its  subject  still  remains  in 
some  respects  obscure,  we  are  able  to  present  a  sketch  of 
the  life  of  a  somewhat  remarkable  man. 

Samuel  Guldin66  was  born  in  Berne,  Switzerland,  in 
1664. °  He  belonged  to  a  family  of  some  prominence 
which  was  originally  derived  from  St.  Gall,  but  had,  in 
1633,  acquired  the  right  of  citizenship  in  Berne.  He  was 
well  educated,  not  only  at  Berne,  but  in  foreign  univer- 
sities. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Pietism,  as  taught  by  Jean  de 
Labadie,  Spener  and  Untereyck,  swept  over  the  land. 
That  there  was  room  for  reaction  against  the  cold  formal- 
ism of  the  times  will  not  be  denied ;  but,  as  is  usual  in 
great  religious  movements,  there  were  undeniable  extrava- 
gancies, and  when  the  authorities  of  the  church  and  state 
interfered,  the  innocent  were  often  made  to  suffer  with  the 
guilty. 


66  The  orthography  of  the  family  name  has  varied  considerably.  In  early 
publications  it  appears  as  Guldin,  but  in  Europe  and  America  it  was  popularly 
called  Guldi  or  Guldy. 

67  He  was  baptized  April  8,  1664. — Good's  "  History,"  p.  69.  The  exact  date 
of  his  birth  seems  not  to  have  been  recorded. 


70  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

In  his  subsequently  published  "  Apologie  "  Guldin  mi- 
nutely relates  the  circumstances  under  which  he  became  a 
Pietist.  He  excuses  his  German  teachers  from  any  attempt 
to  influence  him  in  favor  of  Pietism,  because,  he  says, 
"they  did  not  know  anything  about  it."  It  was  on  a 
journey  to  Geneva,  in  company  with  three  of  his  fellow- 
students,  that  his  mind  was  influenced  in  this  direction. 
One  of  his  companions  fell  ill  at  Geneva,  and  during  his 
illness  the  whole  company  were  brought  to  a  knowledge 
of  their  spiritual  condition  and  "  became  so  united  in  spirit 
that  they  ever  afterwards  remained  faithful  to  each  other." 

Guldin  did  not,  however,  date  his  conversion  from  this 
occasion.  He  became  pastor  at  Stettlen,  a  league  from 
Berne,  but  for  nine  months  was  greatly  troubled  in  mind, 
so  that  he  finally  made  up  his  mind  to  retire  from  the  min- 
istry. At  last,  when  he  supposed  he  had  preached  his  last 
sermon,  another  change  occurred.  He  says:  "On  the 
4th  of  August,  1693,  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon,  the  light  of  faith  arose,  and  was  born  within  me. 
In  that  hour  all  my  scruples  and  difficulties  disappeared,  so 
that  I  was  never  afterwards  affected  by  them  ;  and  I  began 
to  preach  with  new  power,  so  that  my  whole  congregation 
became  aware  that  a  change  had  taken  place  in  my  soul." 

In  the  village  where  Guldin  preached  there  were  people 
who  had  been  carried  away  by  the  spirit  of  pietism  in  its 
extremest  form.  These  gathered  around  him  and  sounded 
his  praises  throughout  the  land.  Great  crowds  gathered 
to  hear  him  preach,  and  soon  phenomena  appeared,  similar 
to  those  from  whom  the  Quakers  derived  their  name. 
There  were  quakings  and  tremblings,  and  strong  men  cried 
aloud  for  mercy.  It  does  not  appear  that  Guldin  at  any 
time  expressly  approved  of  these  manifestations,  but  he 
refused  to  condemn  them,  and  this  was  in  itself  enough  to 


Berne.  7 1 

rouse  the  suspicions  of  the  authorities.  Besides  this,  his 
companions  on  the  journey  to  Geneva  were  now  settled  in 
their  native  canton,  and  several  of  these  went  further  than 
Guldin  in  their  approval  of  the  "  new  measures."  One  of 
them  even  ventured  to  criticise  the  government — an  act 
which  was  in  those  days  regarded  as  the  greatest  of  crimes. 

In  the  first  glow  of  popular  enthusiasm  Guldin  had  been 
chosen,  on  the  26th  of  December,  1696,  diaconus,  or  assis- 
tant pastor  of  the  cathedral  church  of  the  neighboring  city 
of  Berne.  It  is  no  doubt  perfectly  true,  as  he  claims  on 
the  title-page  of  his  books,  that  he  preached  in  turn  in  the 
three  principal  churches  of  the  city.  His  election  was  re- 
garded as  a  great  triumph  by  the  pietistic  party,  and  his 
friend  Lutz  wrote  an  imprudent  letter  which  unfortunately 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  authorities.  Playing  on  the  name 
of  the  successful  candidate,  he  said:  "Golden  tidings! 
This  day  our  golden  brother,  Guldin,  was  elected  diaconus 
by  a  majority  of  the  council.  Glory  to  God  who  doeth 
wonders !  May  He  anoint  the  man  whom  He  has  or- 
dained!  How  will  it  sound  in  the  ears  of  our  enemies? 
The  '  arch-sectarian '  is  now  a  city  pastor  and  a  member  of 
the  ministerium  and  council.  Thus  the  stone  which  the 
builders  rejected  has  become  the  head  of  the  corner.  In- 
form the  brethren,  so  that  they  may  praise  God  and  help 
us  to  contend  for  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

For  more  than  two  years  Guldin  occupied  his  important 
pastorate,  and  his  popularity  constantly  increased.  His 
enemies,  however,  were  alert,  and  Guldin  and  two  of  his 
friends,  Koenig  and  Lutz,  were  in  1699  cited  to  appear 
before  the  Great  Council  of  the  canton.  The  result  of  the 
ensuing  trial  was  probably  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  on 
the  9th  of  June  all  the  accused  were  condemned.  Koenig, 
who  had  spoken  disrespectfully  of  the  government,  was 


72  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

deposed  from  the  ministry  and  banished  from  the  canton. 
In  the  case  of  Guldin  and  Lutz  the  judgment  was  a  little 
less  severe.  They  were  deprived  of  their  pastoral  charges, 
and  forbidden  to  teach  either  in  public  or  private,  or  to  at- 
tend "  conventicles,"  under  penalty  of  deposition  from  the 
ministry.  If  they  should  agree  to  renounce  Pietism,  and 
to  submit  to  the  Helvetic  Confession  and  the  decrees  of  the 
Council,  they  might  at  the  pleasure  of  the  authorities,  "  be 
appointed  to  positions  inferior  to  those  which  they  had 
hitherto  occupied,  and  as  far  distant  as  possible  from  the 
city  of  Berne." 

In  accordance  with  this  decree  Guldin  was  offered  an 
obscure  parish,  but  he  either  withdrew  or  was  removed 
within  the  same  year.68  According  to  the  family  tradition 
he  was  for  some  time  imprisoned,  and  this  is  altogether 
probable  if  he  ventured  to  express  his  opinion  of  the  treat- 
ment which  he  had  received.  For  several  years  he  re- 
sided in  Germany,  and  in  1710  he  sailed  to  America.69  He 
brought  with  him  his  wife  and  four  children,  Samuel, 
Maria  Catharina,  Christoffel  and  Emanuel  Frederick.  In 
America  he  lived  more  than  thirty-five  years,  but  what  he 
did  during  all  this  time  we  are  unable  to  determine.  At 
first,  he  tells  us  in  a  letter  to  Germany,  he  lived  in  the 
house  in  Roxborough,  previously  occupied  by  Kelpius  and 
Matthai,  and  as  he  afterwards  purchased  land  not  far  away 
it  is  probable  that  he  made  that  region  his  permanent 
home.  He  seems  to  have  been  possessed  of  considerable 
means  for  he  purchased  the  farm  in  Oley,  which  was  oc- 
cupied by  his  son  Samuel,  together  with  other  valuable 
property.     Whether  the  father  ever  lived  in  Oley,  we  do 

68  A  manuscript  note  on  the  title-page  of  the  "  Apologie,"  in  the  possession 
of  the  writer  says  he  was  appointed  pastor  "  in  der  Lengg."  Dr.  Good  fixes 
the  place  at  Boltingen,  a  mountain  parish  south  of  Berne. 

69  See  Good's  "History,"  p.  74,  where  is  a  copy  of  an  interesting  letter, 
written  after  his  arrival,  giving  an  account  of  his  voyage. 


Emigration.  73 

not  know.  Records  of  the  marriage  of  several  of  his  chil- 
dren have  been  found  in  Philadelphia.  It  is  almost  cer- 
tain that  several  years  after  his  arrival  in  this  country  his 
wife  died,  and  that  he  was  married  a  second  time. 

The  only  certain  assurance  which  we  have  that  Guldin 
ever  preached  in  this  country  is  derived  from  a  report  to 
Holland  in  1739,  m  which  Boehm  incidentally  remarks 
that  "  in  Germantown  old  Guldi  occasionally  preaches." 
Once  we  know  he  visited  Ephrata.  The  Chronicon  Ej>h- 
ratense  says:  "When  a  learned  scholar  named  Guide 
saw  Beissel's  '  Ninety-nine  Mystical  Sayings  '  he  traveled 
to  him  and  asked  him  why  he  had  made  ninety-nine  of 
them  and  not  one  hundred.  His  answer  was  that  when 
the  number  ninety-nine  was  reached  he  was  stopped  by  the 
spirit."  The  family  tradition  describes  Guldin  as  a  suc- 
cessful and  enterprising  farmer  who  occasionally  preached 
and  administered  the  sacraments,  as  his  services  were  re- 
quired, though  without  a  regular  charge.  It  is,  however, 
barely  possible  that  this  tradition  refers  to  his  son,  Samuel, 
who  had  been  brought  up  under  pietistic  influences,  and 
may  have  occasionally  preached  to  the  people. 

The  chief  interest  connected  with  Guldin's  later  years  is 
derived  from  three  books  which  he  published  after  his  ar- 
rival in  America.70     Of  these  books  the  "  Apologie  "  is  the 

70  I.  "Kurtze  Apologie  oder  Schutz-Schrifft  der  unschuldig  verdachtig- 
gemachten  und  verworffenen  Pietisten  zu  Bern  in  der  Schweitz  ;  in  sich  hal- 
tend. 

"  1.  Die  wider  sie  gethane  Relation  der  Commission  vor  einer  hohen  Ober- 
keit  daselbst,  so  beschehen  den  9  ten  Junii  1699. 

"2.  Die  Apologie  oder  Shutz-Schrifft  dagagen,  aufgesezt  und  ans  L,icht 
gegeben  von  Samuel  Guldin,  gewesenen  Prediger  und  Diacono  in  alien  dre- 
yen  Haupt-Kirchen  daselbst.    Gedruckt  zu  Philadelphia  im  Jahr  Christi,  1718." 

II.  "Kurtze  Lehr  und  Gegensatze  zu  Erlanterung  und  Rettung  der  Gott- 
lichen  Wahrheit,"  von  Samuel  Guldin.     Philadelphia,  1718. 

III.  "Samuel  Giildins,  gewesenen  Prediger  in  den  Drey  Haupt  Kirchen  zu 
Bern  in  der  Schweitz,  Sein  uupartheyisches  Zeugniiss  iiber  die  neue  Vereini- 
gung  aller  Religions-Partheyen  in  Pennsylvania."  Gedruckt  bey  Christoph 
Saur  in  Germantown,  1743. 


74 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


APOLOGIE 

"9 


ietiflen 

|tt  88mt  in  to*  nitwit 

in  f^  bclftno. 

T  StciM&er  fie  q#6ane  Relation  fcetcommiffioi* 

fO  tCfcO^m  t)«l  9.  Junu  1699. 

Il4SteApoicgicot)«6*u^6c^ttfftt)a3egmy 

fluff sefefet  um>  flttf  Sfc&t  aegrtm 
ton 

Hamnd  ^ufem/ 

#aupf>#irc&cn  Dafel&(r> 

Gfetatjcft  S«  pfcitefcclpbfo 


Guldiris  "Afiolog-y"  75 

most  important.  It  contains  a  full  account  of  his  trial, 
and  is  a  defense  against  the  accusations  that  were  preferred 
against  him.  In  most  instances  he  acknowledges  the  facts 
but  denies  the  inferences.  In  fact,  the  book  is  a  defense 
of  Pietism,  though  the  author  is  evidently  not  a  fanatic. 
The  argument  is  strong  and  the  style  good,  though  occa- 
sionally the  writer  lapses  into  Swiss  forms  of  speech. 

The  second  publication,  published  in  the  same  year,  we 
have  not  seen,  but  from  its  title  it  is  easy  to  conclude  that 
it  was  in  some  sense  connected  with  the  former  work.  It 
is  remarkable  that  the  author  should  have  waited  nearly 
twenty  years  before  publishing  these  vindications ;  but  the 
fact  shows  how  deeply  and  permanently  his  European  ex- 
periences had  affected  him.  The  earliest  book  purports  to 
have  been  printed  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  second  bears 
the  same  imprint.  This  can  hardly  be  literally  correct ; 
for  in  those  days  there  was  no  German  press  in  America. 
Besides  this,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  printing  and  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the  book  is  greatly  superior  to  anything 
that  could  have  been  produced  in  this  country.  Probably 
the  author  sent  his  manuscripts  to  Germany  and  had  them 
printed  there.  The  publishers  may  have  deemed  it  prudent 
to  assume  an  American  imprint,  so  as  to  avoid  possible 
complications  with  the  authorities  ;  or  it  may  have  been  in- 
tended to  intimate  obscurely  that  the  work  was  published 
under  the  auspices  of  one  of  the  Philadelphian  societies 
which  then  existed  in  Germany. 

After  an  interval  of  twenty-five  years  Guldin  once  more 
appeared  as  an  author.  He  had  attended  a  meeting  of  the 
"Congregation  of  God  in  the  Spirit,"  which  proposed  to 
unite  the  German  churches  of  Pennsylvania,  but  had  evi- 
dently no  confidence  in  the  permanence  of  the  movement. 
The  book  in  which  he  expressed  this  judgment  was  pub- 


*]6  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

lished  by  Christopher  Saur  in  1743.  It  consisted  of  five 
separate  tracts.  In  four  of  these  he  gives  his  reasons  for 
opposing  the  union  movement ;  but  in  the  fifth,  which  was 
written  in  defense  of  the  Rev.  James  Davenport,  a  cele- 
brated revivalist,  he  opposes  formalism  in  the  church,  and 
intimates,  as  he  had  done  in  the  "  Apologie,"  that  religious 
revivals  should  not  be  opposed,  but  rather  kept  within 
proper  bounds. 

Guldin  evidently  remained  to  the  last  a  moderate  Pietist, 
and  from  our  present  point  of  view  nothing  can  be  said 
against  his  position.  As  a  work  of  literature  his  latest 
publication  is  of  little  importance,  and  we  can  hardly  sup- 
pose that  it  ever  exerted  an  extensive  influence. 

Guldin  died  on  the  31st  of  December,  1745.  Saur's 
paper  of  January  16,  1746,  contains  this  brief  notice: 
"  Der  sonst  von  vielen  Jahren  her  bekannte  Samuel  Guldin 
ist  in  Philadelphia  den  Tag  vorm  neuen  Jahr  gestorben 
in  81  ten  Jahr  seines  Alters."  Concerning  the  circum- 
stances of  his  death  we  have  no  particulars  ;  but  he  left  an 
unsigned  will — a  curious  document  in  several  languages, 
in  which  he  expressed  a  desire  that  a  part  of  his  property 
should  be  given  to  the  poor. 

We  know  so  little  about  Guldin's  later  years  that  we 
can  hardly  refer  with  confidence  to  his  character  and  work. 
That  he  was  a  learned  man  and  a  fine  pulpit  orator  is  suf- 
ficiently evident.  With  his  splendid  talents  he  might,  we 
think,  have  accomplished  a  great  work ;  but  of  his  minis- 
terial activity  in  America  hardly  a  trace  remains.  From 
his  writings  we  conclude  that  his  mind  continued  to  dwell 
on  the  scene  of  his  early  trials ;  and  if  he  felt  no  enthu- 
siasm for  the  upbuilding  in  America  of  a  church  whose 
authorities  had  in  Switzerland  treated  him  with  unkindness, 
not  to  say  injustice,  the  fact  is  at  least  intelligible.     He 


Gu  J  dill's  Death. 


77 


remained,  however,  firmly  attached  to  Reformed  standards, 
and  his  children  were  educated  in  the  same  faith.  He  was 
a  devout  man,  and  deservedly  holds  an  honorable  place  at 
the  very  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  Pennsylvania. 


SPECIMEN  OF   EPHRATA   PENWORK. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  American  Founders. 

John  Philip  Boehm — George  Michael  Weiss. 


2*1 


^URING  the  first  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury very  little  was  done  in  be- 
half of  the  Reformed  people 
of  Pennsylvania.  They  were 
scattered  in  little  settlements 
here  and  there,  but  they  had 
neither  churches  nor  pastors, 
and  in  some  places  their  pov- 
erty was  extreme.  Many  of 
them  hoped  against  hope  that 
ministers  would  be  sent  to 
them  from  the  fatherland,  but  for  a  long  time  they  were 
disappointed.  Some  took  their  children  to  Philadelphia 
to  be  baptized  by  a  Presbyterian  pastor,  Dr.  Andrews ; 
but  a  few  were  so  greatly  discouraged  that  they  actually 
joined  the  Quakers.71  In  some  instances,  we  know,  pious 
laymen  gathered  the  people  on  the  Lord's  Day  and  read 
to  them  a  printed  sermon  or  an  extract  from  some  ap- 
proved    manual    of    devotion.      These   men,   who    were 


71  Report  of  Synod  of  Dort,  1731. 


7) 


Bochm. 


79 


known  as  "  Readers,"  were  often  called  to  officiate  at 
funerals,  and  some  of  them  became  fluent  speakers,  if  not 
actual  preachers.  The  practice  was,  after  all,  not  very 
different  from  that  which  prevailed  among  their  Menno- 
nite  neighbors. 

In  1725  three  little  congregations  requested  their  "Rea- 
der "  to  become  their  pastor,  and  thus  to  exercise  all  the 
functions  of  a  Christian  minister.  The  most  important  of 
these  congregations  was  at  Falkner  Swamp,  which  is  well 
known  as  one  of  the  earliest  German  settlements  in  Penn- 
sylvania. The  other  two  were  Skippack  and  White 
Marsh,  which  have  already  been  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Rev.  Paulus  Van  Vlecq. 
The  "  Reader"  who  was  thus  invited  to  assume  the  pas- 
toral office  was  John  Philip  Boehm,  who,  on  account  of 
his  subsequent  energy  and  devotion,  deserves  the  foremost 
place  among  the  pioneers  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
Pennsylvania. 


John  Philip  Boehm  was  born  at  Hochstadt,  in  Hanau, 
November  25,  1683.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Reformed 
minister,  the  Rev.  Philip  Ludwig  Boehm,  who  seems  to 
have  been  a  worthy  but  unfortunate  man,  for  in  his  later 
years  he  was  blind,  and  received  a  charitable  stipend  from 
the  authorities  of  the  church.     Where  the  son  was  edu- 


80  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

cated  we  have  no  means  of  knowing,  but  it  is  evident  that 
he  did  not  receive  a  university  training.  From  1708  to 
1715  he  was  teacher  of  the  parochial  school  of  the  Re- 
formed congregation  at  Worms.  Here  he  had  a  dispute 
with  one  of  the  officers  of  the  church  with  respect  to  the 
fees  of  his  office,  and  finally  resigned  the  position,  and 
became  parochial  teacher  at  Lambsheim,  near  Franken- 
thal.  Here  he  also  had  troubles  with  regard  to  his  per- 
quisites and  at  last  he  also  resigned  this  position  and 
emigrated  to  America.  In  all  these  conflicts  he  seems 
to  have  been  entirely  in  the  right,  and  the  utmost 
that  can  be  said  against  him  is  that  he  may  have 
been  somewhat  litigious.72  In  a  petition  to  the  Church 
of  Holland,  dated  in  July,  1728,  he  is  said  to  have  been 
persecuted  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  but  though  this  is 
probable  it  cannot  now  be  established  by  contemporary 
evidence. 

When  Boehm  arrived  in  America  he  became  a  farmer ; 
there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  taught  school  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean.  He  seems  to  have  resided  first  in  Whitpain 
Township,  Montgomery  County,  near  the  place  where  he 
subsequently  founded  the  church  which  bears  his  name. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  he  was  called  upon  to  lead  the  peo- 
ple in  religious  service,  and  his  service  was  so  acceptable 
that  the  best  people  in  the  community  requested  him  to 
become  their  pastor.  "  He  explained  to  them  that  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  the  Reformed  Church  he  could  not 
minister  to  them  without  ordination  "  ;  but  they  continued 
their  appeals  "  protesting  that  he  could  not  justify  before 
God  his  refusal  of  so  necessary  a  work."  Among  those 
who  were  most  earnest  in  this  matter  was  Henry  Antes, 
known  as  "  the  pious  Reformed  man  of  Frederick  Town- 

72  For  a  full  account  of  these  conflicts  see  Dr.  Good's  "  History." 


Falkncr  Sivamf.  81 

ship,"  who  subsequently  came  to  differ  widely  from  Boehm 
on  subjects  connected  with  the  organization  of  the  church. 

That  the  call  thus  presented  caused  Boehm  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  we  can  easily  conceive.  He  was  by  nature 
closely  attached  to  forms  and  precedents,  and  to  assume 
the  office  of  the  ministry  must  have  seemed  to  him  like 
laving  unhallowed  hands  upon  the  altar.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  necessities  of  the  case  were  undeniable.  The 
people  were  "  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd,"  and  he 
alone  was  qualified  to  lead  them  in  the  right  way ;  for 
though  he  had  not  received  a  thorough  theological  training 
he  had  so  long  been  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  church, 
that  he  must  have  been  convinced  that  he  knew  exactly 
how  Reformed  Churches  ought  to  be  conducted.  The 
whole  subject  was  to  him  in  the  profoundest  sense  a  mat- 
ter of  conscience ;  but  at  last  he  determined  to  accept  the 
call  as  coming  from  God,  and  proceeded  to  perform  the 
duties  of  the  pastoral  office.  On  the  15th  of  October, 
1725,  he  administered  the  communion  at  Falkner  Swamp 
to  fifty  communicants  ;  at  Skippack  in  November  to  thirty- 
seven  ;  and  at  White  Marsh  on  the  23d  of  December  to 
twenty-five. 

When  Boehm  had  accepted  the  pastorate  of  these 
churches,  he  proceeded  to  organize  them  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible after  the  pattern  of  the  fatherland.  The  congrega- 
tional constitution  which  he  prepared  was  adopted  by  his 
congregation  and  signed  by  the  individual  members.  It 
was  subsequently  adopted  by  other  churches,  and  became 
the  model  for  other  constitutions  which  differed  from  it  in 
several  minor  particulars.73     For  about  two  years  Boehm 

73  This  constitution  was  submitted  in  1728  to  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  and 
approved  by  that  body.  It  was  adopted  by  Coetus  and  published  in  1748,  and 
a  copy  is  preserved  in  the  library  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 
See  Mercersburg  Review,  Oct.,  1876,  for  a  translation  of  these  so-called  "Re- 
formed Church  Ordinances." 


82 


The  Reforyned  Church  in  America. 


was  practically  alone  in  his  missionary  work.  Almost 
immediately  he  undertook  extensive  journeys  to  outlying 
settlements,  and  organized  congregations  wherever  the 
way  was  open. 

At  first  the  labors  of  Boehm  were  confined  to  what  may 
be  called  the  eastern  German  settlements,  in  the  region 
which  is  now  included  in  the  counties  of  Philadelphia, 
Bucks,  Montgomery,  Northampton,  Lehigh  and  Berks. 
There  was,  however,  a  western  district,  which  was  in  those 

days  regarded  as  remote  and 
almost  inaccessible.  It  was 
known  as  Conestoga,  and 
comprised  the  part  of  Ches- 
ter County  lying  west  of  the 
Octorara,  though  its  limits 
were  very  vaguely  defined. 
As  early  as  1718  there  were 
in  the  latter  district  seventy 
German  tax-payers,  but  soon 
afterwards  the  number  was 
largely  increased.  In  the 
eastern  district  many  mem- 
bers of  the  Reformed  Church 
had  settled,  but  in  Cones- 
toga  they  were  comparatively  few  in  number.  The  ma- 
jority then,  as  now,  belonged  to  the  Mennonites,  Dunkers 
and  minor  German  sects. 

The  earliest  efforts  for  the  establishment  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  Lancaster  County  appears  to  date  from 
the  year  in  which  Boehm  organized  the  church  at  Falkner 
Swamp.  At  first  the  devotions  of  the  people  in  the  west- 
ern district  were  led  by  a  pious  tailor,  named  John  Conrad 
Tempelman.     Long  afterwards,  when  this    man  had  be- 


SPECIMEN  OF  JOHN  PHIL  BOEHM'S 
ORNAMENTAL  PENMANSHIP. 


Conestoga.  83 

come  a  regular  pastor — he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Synods  of 
North  and  South  Holland,  dated  February  13,  1733,  in 
which  he  embodied  his  recollections  of  this  early  period. 
He  says  :  "  The  church  in  Canastoka  had  its  origin  in  the 
year  1725,  with  a  small  gathering  in  private  houses,  here 
and  there,  with  the  reading  of  a  sermon,  with  singing  and 
prayer,  on  all  Sundays  and  holidays,  but  for  want  of  min- 
isters without  the  administration  of  Holy  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper."  The  people  earnestly  desired  Tempel- 
man  to  become  their  pastor,  but  he  declined  to  assume  the 
responsibility.  At  a  later  period  he  removed  to  what  is 
now  Lebanon  County,  and,  having  been  regularly  ordained, 
became  the  founder  of  a  number  of  important  churches. 

When  the  Reformed  people  of  Conestoga  learned  that 
Boehm  had  organized  the  churches  of  Philadelphia  County, 
they  invited  him  to  perform  the  same  work  in  their  behalf, 
and  he  acceded  to  their  request.  In  a  letter  to  the  Classis 
of  Amsterdam,  dated  January  14,  1739,  he  says:  "This 
district  of  Conestoga  is  very  extensive.  The  first  congre- 
gation which  was  gathered  here  I  call  '  Hill  Church '  (Berg- 
kirch)  ;  it  is  situated  in  the  center.  I  served  it  according 
to  their  call  to  come  to  them  twice  a  year  ;  for  the  first  time 
in  the  year  1727,  on  the  15th  of  October,  and  there  were 
present  59  communicants,  as  this  was  the  first  time  that  a 
[Reformed?]  communion  service  had  been  celebrated  in 
the  Cannestoga  valley." 

The  church  which  was  organized  on  this  occasion  has 
been  identified  as  Heller's  Church,  about  six  miles  east  of 
the  city  of  Lancaster. 

The  work  which  Boehm  had  begun  soon  met  with  serious 
disturbance.  On  the  21st  of  September,  1727,  Rev.  George 
Michael  Weiss  arrived  in  America,  in  the  ship  William 
and  Sarah,  with  a  company  of  four  hundred  immigrants. 


84  The  Reformed   Church  in  America. 

That  he  was  the  appointed  leader  of  these  people  is  ex- 
plicitly stated  in  a  report  published  in  1731  by  the  Synod 
of  Dort.74  He  had  been  "  qualified  by  the  Palatinate  Con- 
sistory," and  was  therefore  an  ordained  minister  at  the 
time  of  his  arrival. 

Weiss  was  a  vigorous  young  man  and  was  disposed  to 
magnify  his  office.  When  he  found  that  Boehm  was  per- 
forming ministerial  acts  without  ordination,  he  protested 
with  word  and  deed.  He  entered  without  permission 
into  Boehm's  congregations,  and  warned  the  people  against 
such  irregular  conduct.  In  Conestoga,  for  instance,  almost 
immediately  after  his  arrival,  Weiss  "  administered  the 
communion  to  some  who  had  come  over  the  sea  with  him." 
Boehm  says:  "  He  drew  the  people  over  to  him,  but  left 
them  soon  afterwards."  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  summon 
Boehm  to  appear  to  answer  for  disorderly  conduct  before 
the  English  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  which  had,  of 
course,  no  authority  in  the  premises.73 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Boehm  and  his  friends  had 
not  been  idle.  Recognizing  the  irregularity  of  Mr.  Boehm's 
ministry  they  appealed  to  the  Dutch  ministers  of  New  York 
to  remove  the  ground  for  dissension  by  granting  him  regu- 
lar ordination.  As  these  ministers  were  unwilling  to  assume 
so  great  a  responsibility  without  authority  from  the  father- 
land a  petition  was,  in  July,  1728,  addressed  to  the  Classis 

74  See  Professor  Hinkes'  article  in  "The  Perkiomen  Region  "  for  Sept.,  1900. 

76  George  Michael  Weiss  was  a  native  of  the  Palatinate.  His  baptism  took 
place  at  Eppingen,  Jan.  23,  1700,  but  the  "  Chronicon  Ephratense  "  says  he  was 
born  at  Stebbach — a  place  only  two  or  three  miles  from  Eppingen  (Dr.  Good's 
"History,"  p.  113).  Perhaps  it  is  safest  to  assume  that  he  was  born  in  Ep- 
pingen, where  his  family  resided,  though  it  is  hard  to  suppose  that  John  Peter 
Miller,  of  Ephrata,  could  have  been  wrong  in  such  a  matter  especially  when 
he  was  certainly  so  nearly  right. 

Weiss  was  educated  at  Heidelberg,  ordained  by  the  Upper  Consistory  of  the 
Palatinate,  and  commissioned  to  serve  the  church  in  America.  Unfortunately 
the  minutes  of  the  "  Consistorium  "  appear  to  be  lost. 


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Weiss.  85 

of  Amsterdam,  asking  permission  to  perform  the  rite. 
This  permission  having  in  due  time  been  granted,  the 
Dutch  dominies  no  longer  hesitated,  and  it  was  resolved 
that  Boehm  should  be  ordained  in  the  Reformed  Church  of 
New  York.  On  his  journey  thither  Boehm  was  accom- 
panied by  Frederick  Antes,  of  Falkner  Swamp,  Gabriel 
Schuler,  of  Skippack,  and  William  DeWees,  of  White 
Marsh.  The  service  of  ordination  was  held  on  Sunday 
afternoon,  Nov.  23,  1729,  and  was  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
Henricus  Boel  and  the  Rev.  Gualterius  DuBois.76  On  the 
day  following  Weiss,  who  was  present  on  this  occasion, 
formally  withdrew  his  objections  to  Boehm's  ministry  and 
the  two  German  pioneers  were  formally  reconciled.  They 
even  signed  an  agreement,  of  which  one  of  the  articles 
read  as  follows  :  "  That  Do.  Weiss  recognizes  Do.  Boehm 
for  the  lawful,  ordained,  regular  minister  of  the  three 
aforesaid  congregations ;  that  Do.  Weiss  will  stay  away 
from  Schipback,  and  will  declare  to  the  congregations  that 
he  leaves  that  and  the  other  two  congregations  entirely  to 
Do.  Boehm  as  their  lawful  minister  that  he  may  pursue 
his  work  in  peace  among  the  three."77 

In  the  meantime  Weiss  had  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  1727, 
he  had  organized  a  congregation  in  Philadelphia.  The 
elders  then  chosen  were  Piter  Lecolie,78  John  William 
Roerig,  Henry  Weller  and  George  Peter  Hillegass.  It 
may  seem  strange  that  we  have  no  record  of  an  earlier  or- 
ganization in  Philadelphia  where  many  Reformed  people 
had  settled  at  an  earlier  date.     Boehm,  we  know,  had  oc- 

76  Dr.  Good  mentions  Autonides,  of  Long  Island,  as  the  third  officiating 
clergyman. 

77  See  Dotterer's  monograph  on  Boehm,  p.  4. 

78  Lecolie  seems  to  have  been  a  merchant,  and  his  name  frequently  appears 
in  contemporary  documents.  From  the  fact  that  he  wrote  his  Christian  name 
"  Piter  "  we  concludejthat  he  was  in  all  probability  a  Walloon. 


86  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

casionally  preached  there  before  the  arrival  of  Weiss,  but 
his  work  appears  to  have  been  merely  preliminary.  At 
any  rate  we  have  no  knowledge  of  an  earlier  congregation 
than    the    one    which    Weiss    established ;     and    here    he 


Vjft&  *&&*--  cp"'Ut.  '&  /&f  /%*-s&<3  ZV 
ys<rd£l    afiyC&Ft.    ff/SUtotty  &*/*&* 


preached  for  several  years,  serving  at  the  same  time  the 
congregations  in  Germantown  and  Goshenhoppen,  besides 
preaching  for  some  time  to  the  party  which  had  separated 
from  Boehm's  congregation  in  Skippack.  He  also  made 
occasional  missionary  excursions  to  outlying  congregations. 
In  1729  he  published  a  pamphlet  directed  against  a  fan- 
atical sect,  the  '  New  Born'  of  Oley.79  In  1730  he  adver- 
tised that  he  was  "willing  to  teach  logic,  natural  phi- 
losophy, metaphysics,  etc.,  to  all  who  were  willing  to  learn." 
His  congregations  were  very  poor,  and  in  this  way  he  may 
have  eked  out  his  living. 

Weiss  did  not  long  continue  in  the  pastorate  of  his 
churches.  In  the  spring  of  1730  Jacob  Reiff,  of  Skippack, 
undertook  a  journey  to  Europe,  and  Weiss  determined  to 
accompany  him.  Reiff  had  been  in  Europe  before,80 
and  his  visit  had  resulted  in  awakening  an  interest  in  the 
German    churches    of   America.     What    could    be    more 


79"Der  in  der  Amerikanischen  Wildniiss,"  etc.  A  copy  of  this  unique 
pamphlet  was  discovered  by  Professor  Hinke  in  the  National  Library  at  Wash- 
ington. 

80  In  1727  when  he  presented  a  petition  for  relief  from  the  congregation  of 
Skippack  and  Philadelphia  to  the  authorities  of  the  Church  in  Holland.  This 
is  held  to  be  the  first  occasion  when  the  Churches  of  Pennsylvania  corresponded 
with  the  Church  of  Holland. 


'itttAtJV 


Jacob  Reiff.  87 

natural  than  that  these  churches  should  embrace  the  oppor- 
tunity to  solicit  contributions  from  their  brethren  in  the 
fatherland? 

Reiff  appears  to  have  been  a  typical  Pennsylvania  Ger- 
man of  his  time.  Though  uneducated  he  was  enterprising 
and  had  successfully  managed  a  number  of  rustic  enter- 
prises. Dr.  Weiser  has  preserved  a  tradition  that  the 
people  nicknamed  him  "  Ah  so  "  {Audi  so  or  Just  so),  be- 
cause he  was  in  the  habit  of  agreeing  with  those  with  whom 
he  conversed.  In  the  controversy  at  Skippack  he  had 
been  the  chief  supporter  of  Weiss,  and  had  built  for  him 
a  little  church  on  his  own  land.  There  were  debts  on  this 
church,  and  it  is  probable  that  this  fact  was  not  without  its 
influence  in  inducing  Reiff  to  act  as  financial  agent  for  the 
Pennsylvania  churches.  On  the  19th  of  May,  1730,  the 
consistories  of  the  churches  in  Philadelphia  and  Skippack 
granted  him  a  power  of  attorney,  of  which  a  contem- 
porary copy  is  preserved  at  Lancaster.  In  this  document 
Reiff  is  given  authority,  in  case  Weiss  should  determine  to 
remain  in  Germany,  to  bring  another  minister  from  Heidel- 
berg to  supply  the  Pennsylvania  churches. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  relate  the  incidents  of  that  tin- 
fortunate  expedition.  The  story  has  often  been  told,  and 
it  must  be  confessed81  that  it  is  not  pleasant  reading.  It 
relates  the  common  experience  of  several  American  de- 
nominations. The  churches  of  the  fatherland  proved  them- 
selves liberal,  but  a  large  part  of  their  contributions  never 
reached  their  proper  destination.  Weiss  collected  a  con- 
siderable sum,  but  handed  it  over  to  Reiff,  and  thus  freed 
himself  from  financial  responsibility.  Reiff  was  careless 
and  kept  no  proper  accounts  ;  but  he  finally  confessed  that 

81  "Papers  in  the  Reiff  Cases,"  Reformed  Church  Review,  1893,  P-  68  ; 
"  History  of  the  Reiff  Case,"  by  Prof.  Wm.  J.  Hinke  ;  Dotterer's  "  Hist.  Notes," 
P-  133- 


88  The  Ref or  tried  Church  in  America. 

he  had  received  something  more  than  2,000  florins.  It 
must,  however,  be  remembered  that  out  of  this  sum  the 
traveling  expenses  of  two  men  had  to  be  paid,  so  that  the 
amount  must  have  been  considerably  diminished.  Finally 
Reiff  invested  the  proceeds  of  his  mission  in  goods  which 
it  was  supposed  could  be  sold  in  America  at  a  profit ;  but, 
in  consequence  of  a  series  of  accidents,82  he  was  compelled 
to  set  sail  without  them,  and  they  were  retained  in  an 
English  custom-house  for  non-payment  of  duty.  Reiff 
claimed  that  his  purpose  in  making  this  investment  was  to 
advance  the  interests  of  the  churches ;  but  it  is  now  plain 
that  it  was  a  speculation  in  which  he  was  encouraged  by 
men  who  were  willing  to  repudiate  the  whole  business  when 
it  proved  unsuccessful. 

Weiss  returned  to  America  in  1731.  He  came  by  way 
of  Maryland  and  remained  but  a  short  time  in  Philadelphia. 
He  then  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  labored  as  pastor 
at  Burnetsfield,  Rhinebeck,  etc.,  until  1746.  Dr.  Good 
suggests,  that,  though  not  personally  responsible  for  the  re- 
sults of  Reiff 's  mission,  "  coming  events  cast  their  shadows 
before,"  and  that  on  his  removal  to  New  York  he  was  not 
unwilling  to  escape  from  a  gathering  storm  by  seeking  a 
residence  in  another  province.  However  this  may  have 
been,  it  is  certain  that  he  did  excellent  work  in  his  new 
field.  He  kept  up  his  correspondence  with  the  Church  of 
Holland,  and  published  a  book  on  the  characteristics  of 
the  American  aborigines. 

When  Reiff  returned  to  America  he  took  the  most  im- 
prudent course  that  could  possibly  have  been  suggested. 
The  people  had  gained  the  impression  that  the  sum  was 
very  great,  and  could  never  be  convinced  that  the  contrary 
was  actually  the  case.     Instead  of  presenting  his  account, 

82  Related  at  length  in  his  answer  to  the  Court  of  Chancery. 


Philadelphia  and  Skippack.  89 

and  patiently  submitting  to  such  criticisms  as  might  be  of- 
fered, he  declined  to  make  settlement,  though  formally  re- 
quested to  do  so.  The  result  was  much  correspondence 
and  protracted  litigation.  The  Skippack  congregation 
had  apparently  little  to  say — for  there  Reiff  and  his  rela- 
tives were  in  control — but  the  church  in  Philadelphia  took 
up  the  matter  and  would  not  let  it  rest.  Though  the  mis- 
sion had  been  undertaken  solely  in  behalf  of  the  churches 
of  Philadelphia  and  Skippack,  other  congregations  in 
some  way  conceived  the  idea  that  they  were  deprived  of 
their  dues.83  On  the  23d  of  November,  1732,  the  con- 
sistory of  the  church  of  Philadelphia  appeared  before 
Governor  Patrick  Gordon,  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and 
lodged  a  complaint  and  petition,  in  which  they  gave  a  full 
account  of  the  case.  From  this  document  and  from  Reiff's 
answer — both  of  which  are  preserved  among  the  papers 
collected  by  Dr.  Harbaugh — many  interesting  facts  con- 
cerning the  early  history  of  the  church  of  Philadelphia 
have  been  gathered.  The  authorities  of  the  Church  in 
Holland  were  naturally  greatly  interested  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  case  ;  and  as  the  original  subscription  had  dis- 
appeared they  made  up  the  account,  as  best  they  could, 
from  such  documents  as  were  in  their  possession.  In  the 
petition  in  chancery  the  amount  of  the  collection  is  stated 
as  "two  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  guilders, 
amounting  to  three  hundred  and  two  pounds  sterling  money 
of  Great  Britain."  The  Court  of  Chancery  has,  however, 
always  been  proverbial  for  its  delays,  and  there  the  case 
lingered  until   after  the  arrival  of  Schlatter,84  who  finally 

83Saur  stated  in  his  paper  that  the  collection  had  been  made  in  behalf 
of  the  Reformed  Churches  of  Philadelphia,  Skippack  and  Germantown.  So 
far  as  Germantown  was  concerned  this  statement  was,  of  course,  erroneous. 

84  Among  the  papers  in  the  case  is  a  curious  letter  in  English,  dated  April 
a,  1739,  from  the  celebrated  Prof.  John  Frederick  Gronovius  to  the  Hon.  James 
Logan,  enclosing,  with  a  translation,  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Ernest  Engelbert 
Probsting,  urging  the  speedy  settlement  of  the  Reiff  affair  by  legal  process. 


90  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

succeeded  in  effecting  a  settlement,  at  the  same  time  sign- 
ing a  paper  in  which  he  professed  his  confidence  in  Reiff's 
integrity. 

In  1746  Weiss  returned  to  Pennsylvania  and  assumed 
the  pastorate  of  the  Goshenhoppen  charge,  consisting  of 
the  congregations  at  Old  Goshenhoppen,  New  Goshenhop- 
pen and  Great  Swamp.  His  removal  from  New  York  is 
said  to  have  been  induced  by  a  threatening  Indian  inva- 
sion. In  Pennsylvania  he  labored  faithfully  and  was 
highly  respected.  That  he  took  a  profound  interest  in  the 
general  affairs  of  the  church  will  be  seen  hereafter.  He 
died  in  August,  1761,  and  was  buried  at  New  Goshen- 
hoppen, where  a  suitable  memorial  marks  his  grave. 

Boehm  was  fortunately  not  implicated  in  the  Reiff  affair, 
though  he  was  naturally  interested  in  its  developments  and 
frequently  referred  to  it  in  his  correspondence  with  Hol- 
land. In  missionary  work  he  was  untiring  ;  and  he  founded 
many  congregations,  which  were  kept  alive  by  his  occa- 
sional visits,  waiting  for  better  days.  More  than  to  any 
other  individual  the  founding  and  preservation  of  the  Re- 
formed Churches  in  Pennsylvania  in  this  gloomy  time  is 
due  to  the  self-sacrificing  devotion  of  John  Philip  Boehm. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  Period  of  Confusion. 

Dorsius — Peter  Miller — Rieger — The  Goetschius  Family. 


V 


'HE  founding  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  Penn- 
sylvania, as  we  have  seen,  was 
attended  by  peculiar  difficul- 
ties. Natives  of  many  coun- 
tries, there  seemed  to  be  hardly 
a  tie  to  unite  the  early  settlers. 
Pennsylvania  was  in  those 
days  known  as  "the  land  of 
sects,"  and  the  isolated  Ger- 
man was  drawn  hither  and 
thither  by  contending  religious 
factions.  That  a  remnant  re- 
mained faithful  to  the  teachings  of  this  youth  is  certainly 
marvelous.  Not  only  where  Boehm  and  Weiss  had 
preached,  but  here  and  there,  in  out  of  the  way  places,  con- 
gregations were  founded.  Sometimes  a  devout  layman  was 
chosen  to  conduct  religious  services,  or  a  local  schoolmas- 
ter was  induced  to  read  sermons  on  the  Lord's  day.  The 
conditions  were  even  more  depressing  when  there  was  no  one 

(90 


9 -  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

at  hand  to  assume  this  responsibility,  and  the  young 
churches  became  the  prey  of  worthless  vagabonds,  "whose 
only  claim  to  the  ministry,"  says  Dr.  Harbaugh,  "was 
the  possession  of  a  black  coat."  Many  of  these  preten- 
ders had  in  the  fatherland  been  schoolmasters  or  minor 
officials  who  had  lost  their  positions  for  some  delinquency, 
and  had  at  last  found  their  way  to  America,  where  they 
wandered  about  suffering  from  a  thirst  that  was  un- 
quenchable. 

It  was  only  too  easy  for  such  fellows  to  commit  to 
memory  a  sermon  or  two,  and  to  preach  wherever  they 
were  permitted  to  take  up  a  collection.  They  rarely  re- 
mained long  in  a  single  place,  and  the  people  called 
them  Uerumldufer  or  Landlaufer .  In  the  Holland  corre- 
spondence they  are  called  in  Dutch  landlopers  or  simply 
lowers.  For  half  a  century  at  least,  these  loafers  were  the 
scourge  of  the  American  churches,  and  there  are  instances 
of  their  appearance  at  a  much  more  recent  day. 

In  the  third  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  regular 
ministers,  however,  began  to  become  more  numerous, 
bringing  with  them  the  promise  of  better  things.  A  few 
of  these  men — who  were  either  ordained  in  Europe  or 
received  the  rite  after  their  arrival  in  this  country — may  at 
least  be  mentioned  in  this  connection. 

Peter  Henry  Dorsius  ^  was  pastor  of  the  Dutch 
church  at  Neshaminy,  but  could  preach  German  and  oc- 
casionally visited  the  German  churches.  As  early  as  1730 
the  people  of  Neshaminy  had  written  to  Holland  for  a 
pastor,  and  at  this  time  Dorsius  was  named  for  the  position  ; 
but  as  he  had  not  finished  his  studies  he  was  suffered  to 
remain  for  some  years  at  the  universities  of  Groningen 
and  Leyden,  receiving  in  the  meantime  some  aid  from  the 

85  The  name  is  often  written  Dorstius. 


Dorsiits.  93 

Church  in  America.86  He  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  October 
5,  1737,  and  remained  pastor  of  the  Neshaminy  charge 
from  that  date  until  1748.87  In  1738  he  was  requested  to 
reply  to  a  number  of  questions  concerning  the  religious 
condition  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  these,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Boehm,  he  prepared  replies.  At  this  time  he  as- 
sumed the  title  of  "  Inspector,"  which  was  peculiarly 
offensive  to  Boehm.88 

That  Dorsius  was  a  man  of  learning  is  not  doubted.  He 
instructed  a  number  of  young  men,  and  irregularly  ordained 
several  of  them.  In  1743  he  was  made  the  bearer  of  a  letter 
from  the  Church  in  Holland  to  the  Presbyterian  Synod 
of  Philadelphia,  inquiring  whether  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible to  consolidate  the  Presbyterian,  Reformed  Dutch,  and 
German  Reformed  Churches  in  America  into  a  single  body. 
In  their  reply,  the  Presbyterians  tacitly  declined  to  enter 
into  such  a  union,  but  declared  their  willingness  to  join 
with  the  Reformed  "  to  assist  each  other  as  far  as  possible, 
in  promoting  the  common  interests  of  religion."  When 
Schlatter  arrived  in  America,  Dorsius  received  him  kindly, 
but  did  not  attend  the  first  meeting  of  Coetus,  though  he 
sent  a  letter  of  sympathy.  The  fact  is  that  he  was  becom- 
ing intemperate,  and  the  affairs  of  his  congregation  were 
in  a  bad  condition.     Finally,  he  left  his  wife — a  daughter 

86  According  to  the  records  at  Leyden  he  was  a  native  of  Meurs  (Mors)  in 
Rhenish  Prussia.  He  was  matriculated  at  Groningen  in  1734  and  at  Leyden  in 
1736  ;  licensed  and  ordained  in  Holland  in  1737.  Vide  Dr.  Good's  "  History," 
pp.  190-199. 

87  He  was  accompanied  to  America  by  a  student  for  the  ministry,  named 
Van  Basten,  who  preached  in  Pennsylvania.  Corwin  says,  on  the  authority 
of  Faker's  "Annals  of  Newtown,"  that  Van  Basten  preached  at  Newtown  and 
other  places  in  i739~'4o.     He  adds  :  "It  is  doubtful  if  he  was  ever  settled." 

88  On  the  23d  of  September,  1740,  he  preached  at  Lower  Sanson,  and  there 
baptized  three  children  belonging  to  the  Egypt  Church.  On  the  record  of  the 
latter  church  he  is  styled  "Herr  Inspector  Peter  Heinrich  Torschius."  Har- 
baugh  misread  the  name  and  rendered  it  Torsihius,  which  form  erroneously 
appears  in  several  necrologies. 


94 


The  Reformed  Church  in  Ame?-ica. 


of  Derrick  Hogeland,  of  Bucks  County — and  in  1748,  re- 
turned to  Holland.  There  are  traces  of  him  in  that  country 
as  late  as  1750,  but  then  he  disappears.  For  many  years 
the  Coetus  made  contributions  for  the  relief  of  his  wife  or 
widow.  The  light  of  Dorsius  appears  to  have  been 
quenched  in  utter  darkness. 


John  Peter  Miller  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  the  ship 
Thistle  of  Glasgow  and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance,  August 
29,  1730.89  The  remarkable  history  of  this  eminent  man 
has  been  so  frequently  related  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
consider  it  with  minuteness.90  He  was  born  at  Alsenborn, 
in  the  Palatinate,  in  1710,  but  the  exact  date  appears  to  be 
unknown.  His  father  was  a  Reformed  minister  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Kaiserslautern.  The  son  was  educated  at  Heidel- 
berg, and  undoubtedly  became  a  man  of  learning.     What 


89  In  the  list  published  in  the  Pennsylvania  Archives,  2d  series,  vol.  17,  the 
name  appears  as  "Peter  Moller."  This,  however,  may  have  been  a  blunder 
by  the  same  clerk  who  wrote  the  name  of  George  Michael  Weiss  as  "  Hans 
Jerrick  Swaess." 

90  See  "  Chronicon  Ephratense,"  1786.  English  translation  by  Rev.  J.  Max 
Hark,  Lancaster,  1889.  Also  particularly  Sachse's  "German  Sectarians  of 
Pennsylvania,"  Philadelphia,  1900. 


John  Peter  Miller.  95 

induced  him  to  come  to  America  is  not  definitely  known, 
but  the  "  Chronicon  Ephratense  "  tells  us  that  he  followed 
Weiss.  Before  his  departure  from  Germany  he  had  been 
licensed  to  preach,  but  had  not  been  ordained.91  He  was 
ordained  soon  after  his  arrival  by  the  Presbyterian  presby- 

moil  fiwrnMi    ^Tritnd 

FROM   LETTER  TO   BENJ.    FRANKLIN. 

tery  of  Philadelphia.  For  several  months  he  supplied  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Philadelphia,  and  also  preached  at 
Skippack.  Then  in  1731,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Tulpe- 
hocken  charge,  for  which  Boehm  had  previously  preached 
at  long  intervals.92 

91  Dr.  Good  suggests  that  he  can  hardly  have  been  sent  by  the  Palatine 
Consistory,  as  they  would  certainly  have  ordained  him  before  sending  him. 

92  Professor  Hinke  says,  Reformed  Church  Record,  January  11,  1900  :  "  He 
also  took  the  Conestoga  congregation  away  from  Boehm,  who  says  in  his  re- 
port of  1739  :  'After  this  Miller  went  there  to  continue  the  work  of  Weiss,  and 
at  the  same  time  he  also  won  Tulpehocken.'  It  was  during  the  ministry  of 
John  Peter  Miller  that  Tempelman  sent  his  letter  to  the  Synods  of  North  and 
South  Holland,  dated  Feb.  13,  1733.  In  it  he  describes  the  condition  of  the 
Reformed  at  that  time  as  follows  :  '  The  congregation  in  the  Chanastoka,  by 
reason  of  its  growth  and  the  great  distances  between  the  members,  has  been 
divided  into  six  preaching  places.  Three  of  these  places  are  served  by  a  Re- 
formed minister,  John  Peter  Miller,  by  whom  also  another  strong  congregation 
is  served  about  7  hours  (20  miles)  distant,  called  Tulpehocken.  But  now  on 
account  of  the  division  of  the  congregation  they  can  no  longer  be  served  by 
Do.  Boehm  nor  by  the  above  named  Miller,  because  of  the  great  distance  of 
the  different  places  one  from  the  other,  as  also  of  his  increased  activity  and 
the  heavy  labor  resting  upon  him.'  Tempelman  further  says  that  'the  three 
meeting  places  of  the  Reformed  are  scattered  over  a  district  of  7  hours  (20 


96  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

For  about  four  years  Miller  served  his  congregation,9* 
and  during  this  time  built  a  church  at  Tulpehocken.94 
Then  came  the  visit  of  "  the  magician  of  the  Conestoga," 


yC^fte^jfp 


Conrad  Beissel,93  which  resulted  in  the  conversion  to  the 
Seventh  Day  Baptists  of  Miller  and  ten  Reformed  and 
Lutheran  families.     Among    these  converts  was  Conrad 


miles)  long  and  7  hours  wide.'  Of  the  three  places  served  by  Miller  he  can 
give  no  report." 

Professor  Hinke  provisionally  identifies  the  above  three  congregations, 
besides  "Conestoga,"  served  by  Miller,  as  Zeltenreich,  near  New  Holland, 
Reyers  (Brickerville)  and  perhaps  Muddy  Creek.  He  suggests  that  the  latter, 
at  least,  may  have  been  a  mere  preaching-place,  and  that  the  regular  organiza- 
tion must  be  ascribed  to  a  later  date. 

93 This  at  least  is  the  time  generally  given,  though  there  are  indications 
that  he  had  become  partially  alienated  from  the  Reformed  Church  a  little 
earlier.  Boehm  says  in  his  report  to  the  Synods,  dated  October  18,  1734  :  "At 
present  there  is  only  one  other  (Reformed)  minister  in  this  Province,  Peter 
Miller.  When  he  could  not  convince  people  of  his  views,  he  gave  up  his  ser- 
vice altogether  and  is  now  an  Olypersser.  How  he  tried  to  mislead  the  people 
can  be  clearly  seen  from  this,  not  to  mention  other  things,  that  about  two  years 
ago  he  went  with  one  of  his  elders,  whom  he  had  installed  at  Goshenhoppen, 
into  a  house  of  a  Seventh  Day  Baptist,  where  he  allowed  himself  to  be  called 
brother,  and  permitted  the  man  to  wash  his  feet."  The  word  Olypersser,  as 
used  by  Boehm,  is  somewhat  obscure  ;  but  from  my  Dutch  dictionary  I  make 
it  out  to  mean  "oil-miller."  If  this  interpretation  is  correct  it  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  after  Miller  had  practically  retired  from  the  ministry  he  made 
his  living  for  some  time  by  conducting  an  oil-mill. 

94  "  Chronicon  Ephratense,"  English  version,  p.  72. 

95  Conrad  Beissel,  called  "Friedsam,"  was  born  at  Eberbach  in  the  Pal- 
atinate in  1690  and  died  at  Ephrata,  Pa.,  July  6,  1768.  As  founder  and  leader  of 
the  "Order  of  the  Solitary,"  the  history  of  this  remarkable  mystic  has  proved 
fascinating  to  many  writers,  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  relate  its  details.  See, 
especially,  "German  Sectarians  of  Pennsylvania,"  by  Mr.  Sachse. 


Conrad    Weiscr. 


91 


Weiser,  the  most  prominent  man  in  all  that  region,  who 
became  a  member  of  the  brotherhood  at  Ephrata,  but 
afterwards  withdrew.96  Boehm  informs  us  that  Miller  "  was 
baptized  in  Dunker  fashion  at  Conestoga,  April,  1735." 
For  more  than  sixty  years  Miller  observed  the  rule  of  the 
Order  of  the  Solitary.  He  was  dressed  in  a  gown  of  rough 
material,  and  at  night  slept  on  a  bench,  with  no  pillow  but 
a  wooden  billet.  Though  he  was  vastly  more  learned  than 
Conrad  Beissel  he  remained  to  the  last  his  obedient  disci- 


AiN    Ok.naTE    EPHKAIA   INITIAL. 

pie.  Assuming  the  monastic  name  of  "  Brother  Jaebez," w 
he  became  in  time  the  leading  spirit  in  the  community,  and 
after  the  death  of  the  founder  was  its  recognized  leader. 

96  In  a  previous  publication  the  author  has  referred  to  Conrad  Weiser  as  a 
Lutheran  elder. — "American  Church  History  "  series,  vol  8,  p.  262.  Mr.  Sachse 
has,  however,  made  it  plain  that  he  was  at  this  time  "the  chief  elder  of  the 
Tulpehocken  Reformed  congregation." — "German  Sectarians  of  Pennsyl- 
vania," vol  2,  p.  277.  He  was  also  at  a  later  date  an  officer  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Reading.  Nevertheless  as  Weiser  was  born  in  the  Lutheran  Church 
and  finally  returned  to  it,  he  is  properly  regarded  as  a  Lutheran. 

97  Like  others  of  the  brotherhood,  he  occasionally  used  an  alias.  Sometimes 
he  called  himself  "Peter  the  Hermit,"  and  he  was  undoubtedly  "Agrippa," 
who  appears  as  one  of  the  authors  of  the  "Chronicon  Ephratense." 


98  The  Reformed  Chtirch  in  America. 

Many  hymns  in  the  Ephrata  collections  were  written  by 
him,  and  he  translated  from  Dutch  into  German  a  large 
part  of  the  Martyr-book,  published  at  Ephrata,  which  was 
by  far  the  largest  publication  issued  in  America  during  the 
colonial  period. 

Soon  after  his  baptism  Beissel  urged  Miller  "to  again 
take  service  in  the  mother  church,  because  he  had  now 
by  baptism  received  the  power  lacking  for  the  office."98 
Miller  was,  however,  so  fully  enamored  of  the  celibate  life 
that  he  refused  to  leave  the  cloister,  and  declared  that  he 
would  never  be  a  teacher  [i.  e.,  preacher)  again. 

After  Beissel's  death  the  brotherhood  began  to  decline, 
and  before  Miller's  death  it  was  evident  that  the  end  could 
not  be  far  distant."  He  was,  however,  comforted  by  the 
assurance,  once  given  him  by  "Father  Friedsam,"  that, 
in  one  form  or  another,  the  work  at  Ephrata  would  abide 
until  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord. 

On  a  book-label  in  possession  of  the  author  appears  a 
stanza,  evidently  composed  in  his  later  }*ears,  which  fully 
expresses  his  sentiments  concerning  life  and  death. 

The  above  stanza  the  present  writer  has  ventured  to 
translate  : 


98  Letter  of  Miller  to  Peter  Lehman,  Aug.  28,  1788. 

99  In  the  Berliner  Monatsschrifl,  1784,  appears  a  letter  from  Ephrata,  signed 
K.,  giving  a  somewhat  discouraging  account  of  the  status  of  the  brotherhood. 
The  following  paragraph  may  be  interesting,  especially  as  its  correctness  is 
attested  by  the  prior  himself:  "Peter  Miller,  the  only  educated  man  (in  the 
society)  studied  in  Heidelberg  and  was  authorized  to  preach  but  not  to  baptize. 
With  thirty  guldens  in  his  pocket  he  left  his  father.  Afterwards  he  preached 
in  this  country,  and  at  the  request  of  a  German  country  congregation  was  or- 
dained by  the  Presbyterian  clergy  of  Philadelphia.  After  four  years  he  re- 
signed his  congregation,  was  converted,  baptized  others  and  was  himself 
baptized  ;  and  six  months  after  the  organization  of  this  society  he  joined  it. 
Previously  he  had  lived  as  a  hermit."  At  the  end  of  the  letter  appears  the 
following  certificate  :  "  I,  Brother  Jaebez,  otherwise  called  Peter  Miller,  prior 
of  the  convent  at  Ephrata,  Lancaster  County,  hereby  certify  that  this  article, 
written  by  Mr.  K.,  is  in  accordance  with  the  truth  and  written  with  Christian 
modesty."    Vid.  "  Der  Deutsche  Pionier,"  vol.  13,  p.  13. 


Miller's  Book  Plate.  99 


PETRUS'<HEREMIT, 

SJawiif  i#l)let  mug  s*lyn, 
Wnt)  UtDcn  t>ttl  gct)eime  @$t&S/ 

:g>a$  ma#t  op  bitoe  SSSe&en; 
©0*  KKimnu  <«!?  t>er  lange  fampf  u,  jtetfj 
@o  $%  $>  tin  tin  fliaen  <&t>igf«ik 
*   7  ?   J -• 


"  The  path  I  journey  here  below 

Is  full  of  grief  and  sorrow  ; 
I  suffer  many  a  secret  blow, 

And  grievous  pains  I  borrow ; 
But  when  the  war  and  conflict's  o'er, 
I'll  rest  in  peace  for  evermore.*' 

Another  book-label  in  possession  of  the  writer  bears  the 
simple  inscription  : 


Irutler  %Ktbzz 
%pUmU,  178- 


Peter  Miller  lived  the  life  of  a  mediaeval  saint,  and  was 
highly  esteemed  even  by  those  who  entertained  different 
religious  opinions.  He  died  at  Ephrata,  September  25, 
1796. 


100 


The  Reformed  Church  in  Atnerica. 


John  Bartholomew  Rieger,100  an  ordained  minister, 
arrived  in  Philadelphia  one  year  later  than  Miller,  and 
took  the  oath  of  allegiance  on  the  21st  of  September,  1731. 
He  had  been  educated  at  Heidelberg  and  Basel,  and  was 
no  doubt  a  well-educated  man.  That  he  was  commissioned 
for  the  American  work  by  the  authorities  of  the  church  of 

the  Palatinate  appears  to  be 
certain,  and  he  has  even  been 
called  "the  leader  of  a  col- 
ony." He  does  not,  however, 
appear  to  have  been  fully 
alive  to  the  importance  of  his 
mission  and  his  efforts  were 
not  as  successful  as  might 
have  been  expected.  For 
several  years  he  was  pastor 
in  Philadelphia,  then  he  was 
for  some  time  at  Amwell  and 
in  1739  accepted  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  where  his  brother,  Jacob  Frederick,  had 
in  the  meantime  settled  as  a  physician. 

The  Reformed  Church  of  Lancaster  was  evidently  or- 
ganized not  long  after  1730,  when  the  town  was  founded. 
In  1733  it  is  mentioned  by  Tempelman  as  already  exist- 
ing, and  situated  within  what  he  calls  Boehm's  district. 
Its  earliest  members  had  been  members  of  the  Conestoga 
or  "Hill"  Church  to  which  we  have  referred.  Boehm, 
however,  did  not  highly  regard_the  Lancaster  congrega- 

100  According  to  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone  Rieger  was  born  at  Ober- 
ingelheim  in  the  Palatinate,  January  10,  1707.  The  church  record  in  his  native 
town  gives  the  date  of  his  birth  as  January  23,  of  the  same  year.  He  died, 
March  11,  1769,  and  lies  buried  in  the  rear  of  the  First  Reformed  Church  of 
Lancaster,  Pa. 


HAMILTON   ARMS   OF  LANCASTER. 


Lancaster . 


IOI 


tion  on  account  of  its  independent  manner  of  proceeding, 
and  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  preached  there. 
The  extant  records  of  the  church  begin  with  an  entry  con- 
cerning the  building,  which  is  there  translated  :  "  Now  as 
regards  the  building  of  our  church  the  beginning  was 
made  in  the  year  1736,  and  by  the  help  of  God  it  was  so 
far  completed  that  on  the  20th  of  June,  Whitsunday, 
divine  worship  was  held  in  it  for  the  first  time.  The 
reverend  and  pious  John  Jacob  Hock  was  called  as  the 
regular  pastor."  Hock  had  previously  been  a  ruling  elder 
in  the  congregation,  who  was  chosen  to  the  ministry  by  the 
people,  somewhat  as  Boehm  had  been  called  at  the  begin- 


THE  OLD   BROTHER   HOUSE. 

ning  of  his  work.  There  is  no  important  information  con- 
cerning Hock's  pastorate — except  that  he  also  preached  at 
Bethany,  near  Ephrata — and  in  less  than  two  years  his 
name  disappears  from  the  records.  It  is  possible  that,  as 
soon  as  a  regular  minister  could  be  secured,  he  retired  to 
private  life. 

After  serving  the  Lancaster  church  and  several  neigh- 


102  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

boring  congregations  for  four  years  Rieger  took  it  into  his 
head  to  go  to  Europe  to  study  medicine.  He  does  not 
seem  to  have  contemplated  retiring  from  the  ministry,  for 
on  the  5th  of  November,  1743,  he  appeared  before  the  classis 
of  Amsterdam  and  gave  them  an  account  of  Pennsylvania.101 
In  March,  1744,  he  was  matriculated  at  Leyden  as  a  stu- 
dent of  medicine,  and  seems  to  have  remained  there  about 
a  year. 

It  is  known  that  before  his  departure  for  Europe  he  had 
become  unpopular  in  Lancaster, and  ithas  been  assumed  that 
this  was  due  to  his  intimate  relations  with  the  Moravians. 
That  there  were  other  reasons  for  his  unpopularity  is,  how- 
ever, sufficiently  evident.  He  was  full  of  strange  notions, 
refusing  to  baptize  children,  and  publicly  teaching  that  men 
could  be  saved  in  any  religion.103  It  will  be  remembered 
that  at  one  time  Conrad  Beissel  expected  to  gain  him  for 
his  sect ;  and  that  when  he  heard  of  his  marriage  he  ex- 
claimed, "  O,  Lord,  Thou  sufferest  them  to  spoil  in  one's 
very  hands!"103 

It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  under  the  most  favor- 
able circumstances  Rieger  could  have  been  transformed 
into  a  monk.  He  could  take  up  any  new  religious  move- 
ment with  great  enthusiasm  ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  he 
grew  weary.  In  later  years  he  devoted  most  of  his  time 
to  the  practice  of  medicine  ;  and  a  letter  to  Europe  even 
intimates  that  on  ordinary  occasions  he  was  skeptical,  but 
became  thoroughly  orthodox  as  soon  as  he  learned  that  a 
donation  from  Holland  was  on  the  way.  In  addition  to 
all  this,  it  is  easy  to  conclude  from  his  occasional  contri- 
butions to  Saur's  paper,  that  he  was  pompous  and  preten- 
tious— fond  of  using  Greek  and  Latin  phrases — and  that 

101  Good's  "History,"  p.  169. 

102  Wilhelmi's  Report  to  the  Deputies,  1745. 

103  "  Chronicon  Ephratense,"  p.  71. 


Riegcr.  103 

he  sought  to  impress  the  laity  by  assuming  all  the  dignity 
and  state  of  the  traditional  Herr  Pfarrer. 

When  Rieger  returned  to  America  in  1745  1(M  he  began 
to  practice  medicine  in  Lancaster,  but  was  also  desirous  of 
resuming  his  pastorate  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  that 
place.  The  position  had,  however,  in  the  same  year  been 
occupied  by  Caspar  Ludwig  Schnorr,  who  had  been  a 
pastor  in  Zweibrucken,  but  had  rested  under  a  cloud  before 
he  left  his  fatherland.  He  had  appealed  for  aid  to  the 
Church  of  Holland,  but  his  petition  was  not  granted.  In 
Lancaster  he  did  not  do  well,  and  if  Saur's  statements  con- 
cerning him  are  true  he  was  utterly  unworthy  of  his  office. 
He  remained  but  two  years  in  Lancaster,  and  then  went  to 
Esopus,  in  Ulster  County,  New  York,  where  we  lose  sight 
of  him. 

That  the  Lancaster  congregation  did  not  immediately 
discharge  Schnorr  and  call  Rieger,  must  have  been  deeply 
humiliating  to  the  latter  who  had  just  returned  from  his 
European  excursion.  There  was  a  violent  conflict  between 
the  two  men ;  but  even  after  Schnorr  had  been  removed 
the  congregation  did  not  call  Rieger.  Then  he  devoted 
himself  chiefly  to  medical  practice,  but  at  the  same  time 
preached  at  Zeltenreich  ('*  Erlentown  ")  and  at  Schaeffers- 
town,  in  Lebanon  County.  He  made  frequent  efforts  to 
regain  the  pastorate  of  the  church  in  Lancaster,  but  the 
people  would  not  have  him  as  a  pastor,  though  they  rec- 
ognized his  ability  as  a  medical  practitioner.  An  extant 
letter  conveys  the  impression  that  he  did  not  devote  much 
attention  to  his  theological  studies. 

When  Schlatter  arrived  in  America,  Rieger  was  for  a  time 

104  In  the  same  year  he  visited  Zubly  in  South  Carolina.  This  appears 
from  a  volum  in  the  album  of  the  latter,  dated  "  Charlestown,  Feb.  6,  1745" 
On  the  same  page  he  styles  himself  "V.  D.  M.  in  Lancaster  in  Pennsylvania." 
Possibly  he  returned  to  America  by  the  southern  route. 


104  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

roused  to  new  activity.  The  deputies  had  actually  written 
to  him,  requesting  him  to  assist  in  the  work  of  organization, 
and  for  a  time  he  did  his  best.  In  consequence  of  a  scan- 
dal connected  with  his  medical  practice,105  he  was  in  1762 
suspended  from  the  ministry,  but  he  appealed  to  Holland 
and  the  case  seems  never  to  have  been  finally  decided.106 

In  1735  occurred  an  episode  which  may  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  prevailing  confusion.     It  has  long  been  regarded 


ORNATE   EPHKATA   INITIAL. 

as  peculiarly  obscure ;  but  thanks  to  recent  investigations 
in  Holland  the  outlines  of  the  story  may  now  be  read. 
To  relate  it  so  as  to  make  clear  the  causes  of  earlier  mis- 
conceptions is,  even  now,  by  no  means  an  easy  matter. 

On  the  title  page  of  the  earliest  records  of  at  least  four 
of  the  oldest  Reformed  churches — New  Goshenhoppen, 
Great   Swamp,  Bern  and   Egypt — under  the   name  of  the 

105  He  was  accused  of  giving  a  certificate  to  the  effect  that  a  certain  man 
had  died  of  fever,  when  it  was  generally  believed  that  death  had  resulted  from 
violence  at  the  hands  of  a  person  whom  the  physician  desired  to  screen  from 
the  consequences  of  his  act. 

106  Socially  the  Rieger  family  were  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  Lan- 
caster, and  their  names  frequently  appear  in  contemporary  records.  They  are 
best  remembered  in  connection  with  the  unfortunate  duel  in  which  Stephen 
Chambers  was  killed,  in  1789,  by  Dr.  Jacob  Rieger,  a  nephew  of  the  minister. 


An    Obscure  Episode.  105 

congregation  appears  the  signature  of  Joh.  Henricus 
Goetschius,  VDM,  Helvetico-  Tigurinas.  In  each  in- 
stance there  is  a  brief  preface  in  his  autograph,  relating 
the  purpose  of  the  volume,  and  several  brief  sentences  in 
more  or  less  doubtful  Greek  and  Latin  are  in  two  of  these 
records  attached  to  the  signature.  The  title  page  of  the 
New  Goshenhoppen  record  has  no  date,  but  the  very  next 
leaf  bears  an  entry  of  the  baptism,  in  August,  1731,  of 
Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  Philip  Lapaar.  The  inscription 
in  the  record  of  the  Egypt  Church — there  called  "  the 
church  on  the  Lehigh  " — bears  a  date,  but  its  last  figure 
is  badly  blurred.  It  looks  like  1733,  and  as  the  baptism 
on  the  next  page  bears  this  date  the  accuracy  of  the  read- 
ing was  until  recently  never  questioned.  The  Great 
Swamp  record  is  dated  April  24,  1736. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  a  family  named  Goet- 
schius,107 including  a  son  named  J.  Henry,  arrived  in 
Philadelphia  May  29,  1735  ;I0S  and  this  arrival  was  in  some 
way  connected  with  the  well-known  migration  of  Pastor 
Moritz  Goetschius,  of  Saletz,109  but  the  dates  did  not  har- 
monize with  those  given  above,  and  there  were  all  sorts  of 
suggestions  for  the  removal  of  difficulties.  At  last  it  came 
to  be  assumed  that  there  were  two  ministers  named  John 
Henry  Goetschius,  one  of  whom  was  the  founder  of  Ger- 
man churches  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  that  the  other — a 
younger  man — after  preaching  a  few  years  in  Pennsyl- 
vania became  a  very  prominent  minister  in  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church  of  New  Jersey  and  New  York.110 

107  The  name  is  variously  written  Goetschius,  Goetschy,  Goetschiey  and 
Goetschie.  As  every  signature  I  have  seen,  both  in  this  country  and  Europe, 
is  written  Goetschius,  I  have  accepted  this  form,  on  the  principle  that  a  man 
ought  to  be  the  best  judge  of  the  orthography  of  his  name. 

108  Rupp's  "Collection  of  Names,"  p.  99. 

109L6her's  "Die  Deutschen  in  Amerika,"  Cincinnati,  1847. 

110  Corwin's  "  Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,"  p.  282. 


106  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

It  now  turns  out,  as  the  result  of  European  researches, 
that  all  our  early  writers  have  been  mistaken,  and  that 
there  was  actually  but  one  minister  named  John  Henry 
Goetschius.  The  elder  "John  Henry  "  is  actually  what 
historians  have  called  "  a  ghost-name";111  that  is,  a  name 
which  had  no  corresponding  reality.  How  such  an  error 
came  to  be  made  can  be  made  plain  only  by  relating  a 
somewhat  extensive  history. 

The  Rev.  Moritz  Goetschius  (1686-1735)  had  been  min- 
ster at  Saletz,  in  the  canton  of  Zurich,  Switzerland.  He 
was  an  eminent  scholar,  especially  in  oriental  languages, 
so  that  he  made  use  of  them  in  his  daily  lessons  to  his 
family.112  In  1731  he  was  deposed  from  the  ministry,  but 
the  people  remained  attached  to  him,  and  even  men  who 
were  eminent  in  the  Church  manifested  a  disposition  to 
show  him  kindness.113  As  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
are  not  minutely  known,  it  may  reasonably  be  supposed 
that  the  people  believed  that  he  had  suffered  injustice. 
Active  and  energetic,  he  proceeded  to  organize  a  "col- 
ony "  to  go  to  the  Carolinas,  and  in  this  work  he  was 
unusually  successful.  On  October  4,  1734,  he  left  Zurich 
with  a  company  numbering,  it  is  said,  four  hundred  per- 
sons, taking  with  him  his  wife  and  eight  children.  The 
eldest  daughter,  Anna,  was  married  at  Neu  Wied  to  John 
Conrad  Wirtz  (or  Wuertz),  a  candidatus  from  Zurich  who 
was  in  the  party,  and  who  subsequently  became  a  minister 
in  Pennsylvania. 

111  There  are  other  "ghost-names  "  in  our  early  history.  There  never  was 
a  Reformed  minister  in  America  named  Dillenberger,  but  the  Rev.  John  Jacob 
Wissler  added  Dillenberga-Nassauicus  to  his  name  to  indicate  that  he  was  a 
native  of  Nassau-Dillenberg.  Some  early  investigator  misread  the  name  as 
J.  J.  W.  Dillenberger  of  Nassau  ;  and  though  the  correction  has  frequently  been 
made,  the  phantom  manifests  a  constant  tendency  to  reappear. 

112 Good's  "History,"  p.  173. 

113  Letter  of  Dr.  Escher,  of  Zurich,  to  the  author,  Feb.  2,  1892. 


Moritz   Goctschius.  107 

The  journey  from  Zurich  to  Rotterdam  was  accompa- 
nied by  many  privations,  and  many  of  the  company  turned 
back  before  they  reached  Holland.114  At  the  Hague  Goet- 
schius  fortunately  met  a  Mr.  von  Felsen,  who  persuaded 
him  to  change  his  destination  from  Carolina  to  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  through  his  influence  the  Dutch  government 
made  Goetschius  a  donation  of  2,000  guilders,  with  the 
particular  object  of  securing  a  trustworthy  account  of  the 
condition  of  the  churches  in  Pennsylvania.  In  a  letter, 
appealing  for  the  necessary  credentials  from  Switzerland, 
dated  November  26,  1734,  Goetschius  stated  that  he  was  to 
be  superintendent  of  the  whole  church  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
that  his  income  was  to  be  2,000  thalers  until  the  people 
could  themselves  provide  for  his  support ;  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  this  pleasant  story  was  told  for  the  edifi- 
cation of  friends  at  home.  At  the  same  time  Henry  Goet- 
schius— a  son  of  the  Reverend  Moritz,  only  16  or  17  years 
old — wrote  to  Switzerland  that  Mr.  von  Felsen  had  prom- 
ised that,  in  case  the  testimonials  from  Zurich  should  re- 
sult favorably  to  his  father,  he  (Henry)  should  finish  his 
studies  at  the  University  at  Leyden  at  the  public  expense, 
and  that  he  should  be  sent  as  future  successor  to  his  father.115 
The  credentials,  it  is  said,  did  not  arrive  in  Holland  until 
Goetschius  had  sailed  for  America,  and,  though  giving  him 
credit  for  extraordinary  learning,  were  not  otherwise  quite 
as  favorable  as  had  been  anticipated. 


114  One  of  the  disheartened  members  of  the  colony  on  his  return  to  Zurich 
published  a  pamphlet  giving  a  full  account  of  this  eventful  journey.  It  was 
entitled  :  Der  Hinckende  Bole  von  Carolina.  Oder  Ludwig  fVebers  von 
Wallissellen  Beschreibung  seiner  Reise  von  Zurich  gen  Rotterdam,  viit 
derjenigen  Gesellschaft  welche  neulich  aus  dent  Schweizerland  in  Carolinam 
zu  ziehen  gedachte.     Zurich,  bey /oh.  Jacob  Lindinner,  MDCCXXXV. 

Weber's  story,  which  is  very  interesting-,  is  translated  in  Dotterer's  "  His- 
torical Notes,"  and  its  substance  is  reproduced  in  Good's  "  History." 

115  Dotterer's  "  Historical  Notes,"  p.  183. 


108  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

The  ship  Mercury  sailed  from  Rotterdam  in  February, 
1735,  and  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  May.  It  had  been  a 
horrible  voyage  and  the  passengers  had  suffered  greatly. 
According  to  the  Penna.  Archives,  Vol.  XVII.,  the  Goet- 
schius  family  appeared  to  be  qualified  with  the  other  pas- 
sengers on  the  29th  of  May,  but  the  father,  Moritz  Goet- 
schius,  was  not  in  the  number.  He  had  been  very  ill ;  but 
on  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  the  elders  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Philadelphia  came  on  board,  greeted  him  with 
enthusiasm  and  recognized  him  as  the  pastor  of  their  church. 
Summoning  all  his  strength  he  accompanied  them  on  shore, 
but  immediately  his  strength  failed,  and  he  had  to  be  car- 
ried to  a  house  where  in  a  few  minutes  he  died. 

A  letter  preserved  in  Zurich  gives  a  full  account  of  this 
melancholy  event.  It  was  written  by  John  Henry  Goet- 
schius,  who  was  then  but  seventeen  years  old.  The  peo- 
ple of  Philadelphia  had  manifested  great  sympathy  for  the 
afflicted  family,  and  the  father  had  been  "  buried  in  the 
churchyard  of  the  principal  Presbyterian  Church,  with 
elaborate  ceremonies.116  The  condition  of  the  family  was 
most  discouraging,  as  may  be  well  imagined.  John  Henry 
was,  however,  a  precocious  boy,  and  when  the  people  saw 
his  excellent  testimonials  from  the  schools  of  Zurich,  ac- 
companied by  the  statement  that  he  had  been  regarded  as 
a  worthy  student  for  the  ministry,  they  insisted  that  he 
must  preach.  Boy  preachers  have  always  been  popular 
with  the  masses,  and  we  are  not  surprised  that  he  was 
greeted  with  enthusiasm. 

"And  still  they  gazed,  and  still  the  wonder  grew 
That  one  small  head  could  carry  all  he  knew." 

Everywhere  the  people  were  eager  to  accept  him  as  their 
pastor,  and  on  the  title-page  of  the  records  of  the  church 

11S  Good's  "  History,"  p.  182. 


John  Henry   Goetschius.  109 

at  New  Goshenhoppen  he  stated  that  he  simultaneously 
served  the  congregations  at  Skippack,  Old  Goshenhoppen, 
New  Goshenhoppen,  Swamp,  Saucon,  Egypt,  Macedonia, 
Mosillem,  Oley,  Bern,  and  Tulpehocken.  He  treated  his 
predecessor,  Boehm,  with  little  consideration,  and  the  latter 
naturally  complained  of  such  unauthorized  interference  with 
his  work. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  title-pages  of  church  records, 
which  have  led  to  so  much  misunderstanding,  are  easily 
explained.  Goetschius  found  the  books  already  in  exist- 
ence, containing  a  number  of  entries  of  baptism  ;  but  the 
first  page  was  in  each  case  unoccupied,  and  he  took  a 
boyish  pleasure  in  putting  his  name  there,  sometimes  add- 
ing a  few  sentences  in  Greek  or  Latin.  The  inscription 
at  New  Goshenhoppen  was  not  written  before  1736,  though 
on  the  next  following  page  there  is  the  record  of  a  baptism 
solemnized  in  1731  by  some  earlier  minister.  The  inscrip- 
tion at  Egypt  turns  out  to  have  been  written  in  1739,  and 
the  one  at  Great  Swamp  alone  is  legibly  dated  April  24, 
1736.  There  was  no  intention  to  deceive,  but  the  circum- 
stances very  naturally  led  to  a  misapprehension.  As  for 
the  Greek  and  Latin  sentences  they  were  nothing  but  remi- 
niscences of  the  Latin  school  at  Zurich. 

In  1737  Goetschius  applied  for  ordination  to  the  Presby- 
terian Synod  of  Philadelphia,  but  the  application  was  not 
granted.  In  1739,  or  1740,  he  retired  from  his  work  in 
Pennsylvania  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  his  studies, 
and  was  irregularly  ordained  by  Dorsius,  Tennent,  and 
Frelinghuysen.  From  this  time  forwards  he  labored  ex- 
clusively in  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  at  first  on  Long 
Island  and  afterwards  at  Hackensack  and  Schraalenburg, 
N.  J.  At  Hackensack  he  was  visited  by  the  Rev.  H.  M. 
Muhlenburg,  who  speaks  of  him  very  kindly.117 

117  "  Hallesche  Nachrichten,"  II.,  289,  new  edition. 


no  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

The  career  of  Goetschius  in  the  Dutch  Church  was 
stormy,  but  he  was  recognized  as  a  man  of  strength  and  in- 
fluence. Corwin  says :  "  He  was  below  the  middle  size, 
of  a  vigorous  constitution,  abrupt  in  speech,  but  his  lan- 
guage was  clear  and  expressive.  He  was  a  man  of  deep 
feeling  and  strong  passions,  it  being  said  that  once  when 
resistance  was  apprehended  to  his  entering  the  church 
at  Hackensack,  he  buckled  on  his  sword  and,  thus  ac- 
coutred, entered  the  pulpit.  It  must  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  it  was  not  unusual  for  even  a  minister  to  wear  a 
sword,  sometimes  carrying  it  to  church  and  laying  it  be- 
hind him  in  the  pulpit  during  service."  His  only  publica- 
tion was  a  pamphlet  sermon,  "  The  Unknown  God,"  1742. 
He  died  in  1774. U8 

John  Conrad  Wirtz  (or  Wiirtz)  (1706-1763) — the  brother- 
in-law  of  John  Henry  Goetschius — became  his  successor 
in  that  portion  of  his  extensive  field  which  is  now  included 
in  Northampton  and  Lehigh  Counties.  In  1750  he  re- 
moved to  New  Jersey  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Brunswick.  In  1761  he  was  called  to  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  Reformed  Church  at  York,  Pa.,  where  he  died 
after  two  years'  service.  He  bears  the  reputation  of  hav- 
ing been  a  faithful  and  devoted  minister.  In  York  he 
built  a  new  church.  "  At  the  time  of  his  death  the  floor 
was  not  yet  laid ;  so  they  buried  him  under  the  altar."  m 
From  what  we  have  said  it  must  be  evident  that  there  was 


118  John  Mauritius  Goetschius,  a  brother  of  John  Henry,  was  ten  years  old 
at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  family  in  America.  He  seems  to  have  studied 
in  Europe.  A  votutn,  written  in  Dutch,  in  the  album  of  Dr.  Zubly,  dated 
Zurich,  October  19,  1743,  is  signed  "J.  M.  Goetschius,  St.  Theol."  Corwin 
says  :  "He  came  to  America  in  1744";  but  the  latter  must  be  the  date  of  his 
return  from  his  studies.  He  preached  and  practised  medicine — preaching  both 
German  and  Dutch — at  Schoharie  and  elsewhere.  A  son  and  a  grandson  of 
John  Henry  Goetschius,  served  in  the  ministry  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 

119Harbaugh's  "Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  I.,  p.  393. 


Moral  Conditions. 


in 


confusion  everywhere.  Besides  the  ministers  we  have 
mentioned  there  were  "  land-lopers "  whose  names  are 
perhaps  fortunately  forgotten,  or  if  remembered  are  hardly 
worthy  of  record.  The  moral  condition  of  the  people  is 
described  as  most  discouraging,  especially  in  consequence 
of  the  drinking  habits  which  were  then  prevalent.  Order 
and  discipline  were  almost  unknown.  So  far  as  we  can 
see  the  only  movements  in  the  direction  of  organization 
was  the  adoption  by  many  congregations  of  Boehm's  Con- 
stitution of  1725,  and  in  the  work  of  this  good  man  we  see 
the  brightest  prospect  of  better  days. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


The  Unity  Conferences. 
Henry  Antes— John  Bechtel— C.  H.  Rauch— Brandmiiller— Jacob  Lischy. 


JS 


SEAL  OF  THE  UNITAS 
FRATRUM. 


HE  multitude  of  sects  was  in 
Pennsylvania  a  serious  obstacle 
to  the  progress  of  the  Church.  It  was 
impossible  to  interest  a  whole  com- 
munity in  the  founding  of  a  church, 
or  in  the  establishment  of  a  college — 
as  had  been  the  case  in  New  En£- 
land — for  in  extensive  regions  there 
were  hardly  two  neighbors  who  were 
agreed  in  religious  faith  and  practice. 
There  were  not  only  the  denomina- 
tions with  which  we  are  now  familiar ;  but  all  the  little 
mystical  sects  and  coteries,  which  sprang  directly  or  in- 
directly from  the  revival  of  Jean  de  Labadie,  had  their 
American  representatives.  The  very  head  and  center  of 
this  mysticism  was  Oley,  in  Berks  County,  concerning 
which  such  men  as  Schlatter  and  Muhlenberg  expressed 
themselves  in  unmistakable  language.  It  was  one  of  the 
oldest  and  richest  settlements,  and  its  earliest  settlers  were 
unusually  intelligent ;  and  yet  they  represented  so  many 
different  shades  of  faith  and  unbelief  that  it  was  not 
until  nearly  half  a  century  after  the  first  settlement  had 

(112) 


Henry  Antes.  113 

passed  away  that  any  single  denomination  found  itself  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  attempt  the  erection  of  a  building  de- 
voted exclusively  to  religious  purposes.  Naturally  enough 
it  was  from  this  place,  where  the  evil  was  most  keenly  felt, 
that  there  came  the  first  cry  for  the  union  of  churches.  If 
they  could  not  be  brought  to  accept  a  common  confession 
of  faith,  might  they  not  be  induced  to  join  in  the  profes- 
sion of  Christian  love?  John  Adam  Gruber,  of  Oley — an 
11  Inspirationist  "  of  the  school  of  John  Frederick  Rock 
— issued  in  1736  an  appeal  for  religious  union.  The  proj- 
ect was  extensively  discussed,  but  it  was  first  brought  into 
tangible  shape  by  Henry  Antes,  who  was  known  as  "  der 
fromme  Reformirte  Mann  aus  Friedrich  township" 

John  Henry  Antes  120  was  born  in  1701  at  Freinsheim,  in 
the  Palatinate,  and  was  baptized  in  the  Reformed  Church 
of  that  place  on  the  17th  of  July  of  the  same  year.121  His 
father,  Philip  Frederick  Antes,  in  later  years  migrated  to 
America  with  his  family,  and  in  1723  purchased  a  farm  in 

what  is  now  Montgomery  County.  Possibly  he  resided 
there  a  year  or  two  before  the  purchase  was  effected.  It 
seems  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  Henry  Antes  accompa- 
nied his  father,  and  both  were  from  the  beginning  promi- 
nent members  of  the  Falckner  Swamp  church,  which  was 
near  at  hand.  As  we  have  seen,  it  was  Henry  Antes  who 
persuaded  Boehm  to  undertake  the  work  of  the  ministry. 


120  Our  readers  have  no  doubt  observed  that  among  the  Germans  of  that  age 
the  first  Christian  name  was  rarely  used.  The  second  name — der  Rufname — 
was  the  name  by  which  they  were  called,  and  which  they  employed  as  a  signa- 
ture.    It  was  so  with  Antes  and  many  others  mentioned  in  this  volume. 

121McMinn,  "On  the  Frontier  with  Col.  Antes,"  Camden,  N.  J.,  1900. 


114  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

For  some  years  the  two  men  were  very  intimate,  and 
Boehm  himself  refers,  in  one  of  his  published  pamphlets, 
to  the  hours  they  had  spent  in  sweet  religious  communion. 
Antes  himself  soon  became  a  religious  exhorter,  if  not  a 
preacher.  Harbaugh  says  that  as  early  as  1736  he  minis- 
tered to  the  Reformed  people  in  Oley.  He  was  less  de- 
nominational than  Boehm,  and  greeted  Christians  of  every 
name  with  warm  affection.  When  the  celebrated  revi- 
valist, George  Whitefield,  came  to  Pennsylvania  he  visited 
Henry  Antes  and  preached  at  his  house  April  23,  1740,  to 
a  great  multitude  of  people.122  The  Moravian  bishop, 
Petrus  Boehler,  preached  German  on  the  same  occasion. 
When  Count  Zinzendorf  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  De- 
cember, 1741,  he  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  Henry 
Antes,  and  the  latter  explained  to  him  his  plan  for  the 

union  of  the  churches.  It  is  said  that  the  Count  hesi- 
tated for  some  time,  but  finally  gave  his  approval.  Antes 
therefore  issued  his  "  Call  for  a  meeting  of  Christians,  to 
be  held  on  New  Year's  Day,  1742,  in  Germantown."  m  It 
was  to  be  held  "not  for  the  purpose  of  disputing  with 
one  another,  but  to  confer  in  love  on  the  important  articles 
of  faith,  in  order  to  see  how  near  all  could  come  together 

122  Mr.  Seward,  who  accompanied  Whitefield,  says  in  his  Journal,  pp.  12, 
13  :  "They  were  Germans  where  we  dined  and  supped,  and  they  prayed  and 
sang  in  German  as  we  did  in  English  before  and  after  eating."  This  occasion 
would  afford  a  splendid  subject  for  a  painter — Whitefield  preaching  in  English 
to  the  Germans  of  Frederick  Township,  who,  while  most  of  them  probably 
failed  to  understand  the  sermon,  could  not  help  feeling  the  power  of  his  trans- 
cendent eloquence. 

12S  Reprinted  in  B&dingische  Sammlungen,  II.,  p.  722.  Translated  in  Mc- 
Minn's  "  On  the  Frontier  with  Col.  Antes,"  p.  20. 


Conferences.  115 

in  fundamental  points."  It  was  this  meeting  that  led  to 
the  organization  of  the  "  Congregation  of  God  in  the 
Spirit." 

Seven  conferences  were  held  between  January  1  and 
June  3,  1742.  The  proceedings,  together  with  other  docu- 
ments pertaining  to  the  general  subject,  were  in  the  same 
year  published  in  a  quarto  volume  by  Benjamin  Franklin.124 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  conferences  or  synods 
attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention,  and  at  the  first  meeting 
eight  different  sects  were  represented.  Unfortunately, 
perhaps,  the  representatives  were  generally  self-appointed 
and  most  of  them  were  popularly  regarded  as  extreme  pietists 
or  mystics  who  entertained  modes  of  thought  that  were  at 
least  unusual.  The  hope  of  Antes  that  the  meeting  would 
"confer  in  love"  was  not  realized.  The  "  Ephrata 
Brethren  "  were  there  in  force,  and  naturally  there  were 
sharp  contentions.  Gradually,  however,  the  extremists 
withdrew,  and  at  the  third  conference — held  in  Oleyatthe 
house  of  John  De  Turck — an  organization  was  effected  in 
accordance  with  the  plans  of  its  earliest  promoter. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  from  the  beginning  the  lead- 
ing spirit  in  the  conferences  was  Count  Zinzendorf.  He 
has  often  been  blamed  for  having  employed  them  for 
proselyting  purposes.  Professor  Seidensticker — employ- 
ing a  German  idiom — says  :  "  He  sought  to  bring  them  all 
under  one  hat,  that  is,  his  own  hat."  This  reproach,  how- 
ever, appears  to  be  undeserved.  Unless  we  greatly  mis- 
understand the  purpose  of  Count  Zinzendorf  and  his 
coadjutors  they  never  wished  to  establish  a  denomination  in 
the  modern  sense,  that  would  compete  in  numbers  with 
existing  ecclesiastical  organizations.     In  faith   Zinzendorf 


12*Authentische  Relation,  etc.    Titles  in   Hildebrun,  I.,  747,  and  in 
Seidensticker'8  "  First  Century  of  German  Printing,"  p.  16. 


u6  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

was  a  Lutheran,  as  he  was  always  ready  to  declare;  but 
he  was  not  a  doctrinaire.  Many  of  his  coadjutors  belonged 
to  other  confessions ;  but  they  made  no  renunciation  of 
their  faith  when  they  joined  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  The 
brotherhood  had  been  instituted  with  other  purposes, 
and  in  its  unity  the  brethren  ignored  the  differences  of 
creed  and  nationality.  In  its  practical  relations  it  might 
have  been  called  a  great  missionary  organization  that 
stretched  forth  its  arms  to  embrace  many  nations.  For 
the  accomplishment  of  its  highest  purposes  it  was  deemed 
necessary  to  establish  settlements  that  might  become  centers 
of  influence  ;  but  it  was  never  supposed  that  Christendom 
would  in  all  respects  accommodate  itself  to  the  peculiar 
forms  of  life  which  were  there  cultivated.  The  founders 
had  a  beautiful  vision  of  unity  in  diversity — of  a  church 
that  preserved  its  local  forms  and  confessions,  but  was  per- 
vaded by  a  higher  life,  and  was  most  intimately  connected 
with  the  local  centers  which  the  brotherhood  had  founded. 
If  such  a  plan  could  have  been  carried  out  the  results 
would  have  been  grand  beyond  conception.  The  ancient 
forms  of  faith,  which  men  had  learned  to  love,  would  not 
have  been  sacrificed ;  there  would  have  been  no  lack  of 
that  generous  rivalry  which  often  leads  to  earnest  effort ; 
but  there  might  have  been  a  "  Union  in  the  Spirit"  that 
would  have  been  the  nearest  approach  to  millennial  antici- 
pations which  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

For  such  a  purpose  Zinzendorf's  theory  of  Tropes  ap- 
peared to  be  peculiarly  well  suited.  The  idea  was  pro- 
fessedly based  on  Philippians  I,  18  ;  and  though  it  may  be 
traced  back  to  the  early  history  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren, 
it  was  Zinzendorf  who  developed  and  applied  it.  Accord- 
ing to  this  theory  it  was  possible  for  true  Christians  to 
retain  their  denominational  peculiarities,  while  their  hearts 


John  Bechlel.  117 

were  united  in  an  elect  brotherhood.  In  fact  it  was  not 
very  different  from  the  method  of  organizing  devout 
Christians  into  societies,  without  separating  them  from  the 
congregations  to  which  they  had  been  previously  attached, 
which  had  for  some  time  prevailed  among  the  pietists  of 
Germany. 

It  seemed  at  first  as  if  this  well-meant  plan  would  prove 
successful.  Many  excellent  men  welcomed  it  as  well 
suited  to  existing  conditions.  So  far  as  the  Reformed 
Church  was  concerned  the  Count  could  hardly  be  called 
an  intruder,  for  there  was  as  yet  no  general  organization. 
Though  himself  in  faith  a  Lutheran,  he  had  been  ordained 
to  the  ministry  by  the  leading  minister  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Brandenburg,  the  celebrated  Jablonsky,125  who 
was  also  a  Moravian  bishop,  and  had  been  active  in  the 
organization  of  the  renewed  church.  By  the  authority 
thus  granted,  Zinzendorf  proceeded  to  ordain  Reformed 
ministers,  and  for  a  time  it  must  have  seemed  as  if 
there  would  be  no  serious  opposition  to  his  authority. 

The  first  Conference,  as  we  have  seen,  was  held  at  Ger- 
mantown.  John  Bechtel  was  ministering  to  a  Re- 
formed congregation  in  that  place.  Bechtel  was  born 
Oct.  3,  1690,  at  Weinheim  in  the  Palatinate,  to  which 
place  his  parents  fled  when  the  French  burnt  Francken- 
thal,  their  native  place.126  His  parents  seem  to  have  in- 
tended to  train  him  for  the  ministry  ;  but  they  died  during 


125  Daniel  Ernst  Jablonsky  was  born  November  26,  1660,  at  Nassenhuben  and 
died  at  Berlin  May  25,  1741.  He  was  successively  pastor  of  Reformed  churches 
at  Magdeburg  and  Lissa,  and  was  subsequently  the  favorite  court-preacher  of 
the  first  two  kings  of  Prussia.  He  labored  earnestly  to  promote  the  union  of 
the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches  of  Prussia.  From  the  University  of 
Oxford  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  He  was  a  son-in-law  of 
Comenius.  For  a  full  sketch  of  his  life  see  De  Schweinitz,  "History  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum, "  p.  625. 

126  Jordan,  "John  Bechtel,"  p.  2. 


n8  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

his  childhood  and  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  wood-turner. 
In  1715  he  was  married  to  Maria  Appolonia  Marret,  with 
whom  he  had  nine  children,  of  whom  five  were  daughters. 
After  following  his  trade  for  some  years  in  Heidelberg 
and  Franckenthal,  he  went  with  his  family,  in  1726,  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  settled  in  Germantown,  where  he  re- 
sided for  nearly  twenty  years.  He  was  a  devout  man  and 
soon  began  to  minister  to  the  Reformed  people  in  sacred 
things.  If  there  had  been  a  congregation  there  at  an 
earlier  date  it  must  have  been  entirely  broken  up,  for  we 
read  that  at  first  he  held  religious  meetings  not  only  on 
Sundays,  but  every  morning  and  evening  on  week  days. 
The  congregation  which  he  gathered  built  a  church  on 
Market  Square,  and  in  1733  called  him  to  be  their  pastor. 
It  is  said  that  before  this  time  he  had  received  from  the 
authorities  in  Heidelberg  a  license  to  preach  the  Gospel.127 
In  1738,  he  tells  us  in  his  autobiography,  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Moravian  Bishop  Spangenberg,  who 
was  then  sojourning  at  the  house  of  Christopher  Wiegner, 
on  the  Skippack.  At  this  old  Schwenkfelder  homestead 
there  was  a  monthly  meeting  of  devout  people,  among 
whom  were  Antes,  Stiefel,  Adam  Gruber,  and  Bechtel, 
who  were  called  the  "  Associate  Brethren  of  Skippack."128 
Here,  says  Bechtel,  they  "  enjoyed  many  blessed  hours 
together." 

When  Count  Zinzendorf  arrived  in  America  he  wrote  to 
Bechtel  to  meet  him  in  Philadelphia.  The  daughter  of 
the  latter  wrote  many  years  afterwards  that  her  father  at 
first  hesitated  to  accept  the  invitation ;  but  she  was  enthu- 
siastic and  urged  him  to  go,  personally  bringing  his  horse 


12'  Harbaugh's  "Fathers,"  I.,  p.  317. 

128  gee  also  chapter  on  the  Skippack  Brethren,  German  Sectarians,  Vol.1., 
PP-  423-438- 


BechteVs   Catechism.  119 

saddled  and  bridled  to  the  door.  From  this  time  onward 
Bechtel  was  one  of  the  Count's  most  active  coadjutors. 
It  was  in  his  church  that  the  latter  preached  his  first 
American  sermon ;  and  it  was  at  Zinzendorf's  direction 
that  Bechtel  was  ordained  by  Bishop  David  Nitschmann, 
April  18,  1742,  "  to  labor  with  the  Reformed  brethren  who 
were  connected  with  the  synod."  At  the  same  time  he 
was  appointed  commissary  or  overseer  of  all  the  German 
Reformed  churches  in  Pennsylvania.  Zinzendorf  wrote 
to  Boehm,  informing  him  of  this  arrangement,  and  sug- 
gesting that  he  should  submit  to  Bechtel's  authority. 
That  Boehm  was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  respond  favorably 
to  such  a  proposition  need  hardly  be  stated. 

It  is  for  his  contributions  to  religious  literature  that 
Bechtel  is  best  remembered.  It  was  at  the  fifth  Confer- 
ence, held  at  Germantovvn,  that  he  presented  the  manu- 
script of  his  Catechism,  ad  modum  Bcrnatum,  for  the  use 
of  the  Reformed  congregation  in  Pennsylvania  which  held 
to  the  union.  It  claimed  to  be  based  on  the  decrees  of  the 
Great  Synod  of  Berne,  held  in  1532,  ignoring  all  later 
Reformed  confessions.  It  was  not  without  merit,  being 
full  of  unction  and  fervor ;  but  to  those  who  insisted  on  the 
preservation  of  doctrine  in  its  historic  sense  it  naturally 
failed  to  prove  acceptable. 

The  interest  at  present  attached  to  this  publication  is 
mainly  bibliographic.  It  was  printed  in  Roman  characters 
by  Benjamin  Franklin  under  the  following  title: 

"  Kurzer  |  Catechismus  |  voretliche  |  Gemeinenjesu  | 
Aus   der  |  Reformirten   Religion  |  In   Pennsylvania  |  Die 
sich  zum  alten  Berner  Synodo  halten  :   Herausgegeben  | 
von  I  Johannes  Bechteln  |  Diener  des  Worts  Gottes  |  Phil- 
adelphia I  Gedruckt  bey  Benjamin  Franklin,  1742." 

On  the  reverse  of  the  title  page  is  the  following  adver- 
tisement : 


120 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


Stumer 

toe$fite 

QSot  Klic&e 

imteineit  Stefu 

5!uS  bet 

DWwmittert  Mgiott 

3n 
fENNSTLP'ANlA, 

Z)i«jt4>jumfllttn  Werner  Sjw<& 
balten: 

^crauegcmben 

Ml 

So&annes  2>«t3tefn/ 

Sienttn  U(J  5Bc  EftS  QiOtUi. 


En  kort 

CATECHISMUS 

For  nigra 

Jesu  FoersamlingaR 

Utap    then 

RF.FORMERTA  RELIGIONEN 

Uti  PENNSYLVANIA, 

fo!nhilUfigtilthetB«Ni(kaSv«0D6i 

Hwilket  ar 

Rnligit  med  Laronc  uti  then 

MAEHRifca  Kyrkian. 


PHILADELPHIA, 

jptitmft  bep  SSenjamfo  gtaiitfjiit/ 


Kutzer 

CATECHISMUS 

Vor  etlichc 

GeMeinen  JESU 

-Aus  der 

Reformirten  Religion 

In  Pbuhstlfania, 

££ifabzuma!itnBcme:SrNODo  batten: 

Hci  KOMEMA  Voo 

JOHARSES    BlCHTILK, 

Diener  do  Worts  Q  o  t  t-es. 


CcSacia  bty  Bg»j«.ms  Fuklih,  174.1. 


Rr/J  ««i7h«b  >  thltySa  Spritn 

.yjOH^NNE  BECHTEL, 

CuJi  Ordi  7iinart. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

Tryckt  ho»  Benjamin  Fr.amKI.in> 

Aohi  »7  43- 


A  Short 

CATECHISM 

FOR    SOME 

Congregations  of  JESUS. 

Op  the 

Reformed    RELIGION 
li,  Pennsylvania, 

VTho  keep  to  the  ancient  S  t  k  o  d  of  SB  R  W  > 
Agreeable  to 

The   Doctrine 

Of  the 

MORAVIAN  CHURCH, 

Fiift  publilhed 

In   GERMAN, 

Bt 
JOHN         BECHTEL, 

MinifteroftheWordofGOD. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
(Tinted b»  I.».»- WAW-".  ^*,°20fi" 


TITEE  PAGES  OF  BECHTEl/S  CATECHISM. 


THE    REFORriED   CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


TEACHING    THE  CATECHISM. 

'COURTESY    OP    THE    LADIES    tiOflC    JOURNAL    I 


First  Boarding  School.  121 

"  Zu  haben 

In  Philadelphia  bey  Stephen  Benezet 

In  Gennantozvn  beyBechteln. 

In  Falckner  Schwamm  bey  H.  Antes. 

In  Oley  bey  Johannes  Leinbach  dem  Aeltern. 

In  Lancaster  Tozun  bey  Daniel  Maquenet. 

In  Schippach  bey  G.  Merckeln. 

In  Sockcn  bey  Jacob  Bachman. 

In  den  Forks  bey  Eyseck." 

An  English  translation  was  printed  in  the  same  year  by 
"  Isaiah  Warner,  almost  opposite  to^Charles  Brockden's  in 
Chestnut  Street "  ;  and  an  exact  reproduction  of  the  German 
edition  was  issued  in  German  type,  probably  in  Germany, 
though  the  imprint  "  Philadelphia  "  was  retained.  In  1743 
the  Catechism  was  translated  into  Swedish  by  Olaf  Ma- 
lander,  and  issued  from  Franklin's  office.  All  these  pub- 
lications are  now  regarded  as  among  the  rarest  issues  of 
the  American  press. 

The  majority  of  the  Reformed  congregation  in  German- 
town  did  not  sustain  Bechtel,  and  on  the  9th  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1744,  he  was  dismissed  from  the  pastorate.  He 
tells  us  that  this  decision  was  "  a  true  comfort  "  to  him,  as 
it  opened  his  eyes  to  his  true  position.  In  1746  he  trans- 
ferred his  property  to  the  Brethren,  to  be  used  as  a  board- 
ing school,  and  in  the  same  year  he  removed  to  Bethlehem.129 
Here  he  lived  in  retirement,  highly  respected  by  the 
community,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  April  16,  1777, 
in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  His  descendants 
are  numerous  and  respectable. 


129  As  early  as  1742  he  issued  a  prospectus  for  a  school.  Title  in  "  Frese- 
nius's  Nachrichten,"  III.,  740. 

The  Moravians  opened  a  school  in  Gertnantown  in  1742,  in  the  house  of 
Bro.  Ashmead. — Jordan's  "John  Bechtel,"  p.  12  ;  "  Reichel  Mem.,"  p.  49. 


122  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

\22tn  teutfcfcett  gftent  ottf  bem  &m* 
kf  m\d)t  ibre  $tnbev  gevne  6eiTec 
teforget  fd&en  ofmeiMnbming  i&re$£ai& 
wefenS,  gebencf  et  man  baju  cinen  emfdfc 
tigen  imb  &er$lic&en  3Sovfd)(ag  ju  tfernt 
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unb  ©tunbe  an  §M)ttK  ober  btf-Odfi* 
iter*  SScbmaitf  £aufe  in  Scrmatrtoron 
melbm  nnrtfai.  SBer  fefbit  nic&t  fomnfen 
fan/  ber  molle  (tint  SWpmmfl  jemanb 
mtbetf  anftrajem 

<Scnn<»rttowrt  am  z*.  tflartij,  1742. 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  THE   PROSPECTUS  FOR    THE   FIRST  BOARDING  SCHOOL 
IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 

Christian  Henry  Rauch,  the  celebrated  Moravian 
missionary,  was  another  Reformed  minister  who  stood  in 
Unity.  He  was  born  in  Anhalt-Bernburg,  Germany,  July 
5,  1718,  and  died  on  the  island  of  Jamaica,  Nov.  11,  1763. 
In  the  history  of  the  Church  of  the  Brethren  his  career 
occupies  many  a  brilliant  page ;  but  the  fact  may  not  be 
generally  known  that  he  was  an  active  laborer  in  the  Con- 
gregation of  God  in  the  Spirit.  His  work  for  the  Re- 
formed  Church    was,   however,  only   an    episode   in   his 


Christian    Henry  Ranch. 


123 


greater  missionary  activity.  He  had  preached  to  the  In- 
dians of  Shecomeco,  in  the  province  of  New  York,  near 
the  borders  of  Connecticut,  and  brought  with  him  to  the 
third  Conference,  held  at  Oley,  Feb.  10,  1742,  three 
Indians  who  were  baptized  under  the  names  of  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob.  Rauch  was  appointed  one  of  the  trus- 
tees of  the  congregation,  and  a  few  years  later  we  find 
him  acting  as  superintendent  of  the  Reformed  trofios. 
Harbaugh  tells  us  that  in   1746,   "he  preached  for  the 


AN   OLD   HOUSE  IN   GERMANTOWN,  BUILT   1698. 

Reformed,  more  or  less  regularly,  in  Heidelberg,  Tulpe- 
hocken,  Muhlbach,  at  Matthias  Dietz's,  Swatara,  Quito- 
pahilla,  Donegal,  Warwick,  at  Leonard  Bender's,  Lancas- 
ter, Mode-Creek,  Coventry,  in  Chester  County,  Oley, 
Schippach  and  Goshenhoppen,  in  Montgomery  County." 
In  an  early,  anonymous  history  of  the  Moravian  Church 
of  York,  preserved  in  manuscript  at  Lancaster,  he  is  men- 
tioned as  especially  active  in  the  organization  of  churches 
beyond  the  Susquehanna.  In  1749,  when  he  had  practi- 
cally withdrawn  from  his  special  labors  in  the  Reformed 
Church  he  took  charge  of  the  Brethren  congregation  and 


124  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

school  at  Lititz,  Lancaster  County,  serving  also  as  super- 
intendent of  neighboring  congregations.  Subsequently 
we  find  him  in  North  Carolina,  and  at  last  in  the  West 
Indies,  laboring  enthusiastically  in  the  establishment  of 
missions  among  the  negroes.  He  was  a  noble  character, 
and  the  Church  of  the  Brethren  has  worthily  done  honor 
to  his  memory. 

John  Brandmuller  (or  Brandmiller)  was  another  mem- 
ber of  the  same  elect  circle.  In  an  autobiographical 
sketch130  he  tells  us  that  he  was  born  in  Basel,  Switzerland, 
November  24,  1704.  In  his  thirteenth  year  he  "was 
taken  up  into  the  Reformed  religion,  with  specially  deep 
feelings,  amid  many  tears."  His  subsequent  history  was 
eventful,  not  to  say  romantic.  He  traveled  as  far  as  Treves 
with  a  German  nobleman,  and  served  for  some  time  in  the 
French  army.  Returning  to  Basel  he  adopted  the  profes- 
sion of  his  father — who  was  a  bookkeeper — and  was  in 
1735  married  to  Anna  Maria  Burkhart,  with  whom  he  had 
three  children.  Having  read  some  of  the  writings  of 
Christian  David  he  visited  Herrnhut,  and  at  Marienborn 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Count  Zinzendorf.  Having 
joined  the  Moravians  he  lived  for  some  time  with  his  family 
at  Herrnhag,  and  then,  in  1741,  accompanied  the  first  pil- 
grim congregation  to  Pennsylvania.  After  remaining  here 
for  six  months  he  returned  to  Europe,  and  in  1743  brought 
his  family  to  America.  Having  served  for  some  time  as 
steward  for  the  Brethren,  he  was  ordained  for  service  in 
the  Reformed  trofios,  and  preached  successively  at  Alle- 
maengel  (Albany  Township,  Berks  County),  Swatara  and 
Donegal.  As  he  was  familiar  with  the  French  language, 
he  was  in  1747  commissioned  to  visit  the  Walloons  in  the 


130Harbaug'h's  "Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  I.,  p.  375. 


Jacob  Lischy.  125 

townships  of  Sopus  (Esopus)  and  New  Paltz,  west  of  the 
Hudson.  On  his  return  he  reported  "  that  they  conducted 
their  worship  partly  in  French,  had  a  lector,  and  that  a 
Dutch  dominie  ministered  to  them  occasionally."131  In 
later  years  Brandmuller  was  a  teacher  at  Friedensthal, 
near  Nazareth,  and  also  served  for  some  time  as  printer 

Baco&  $stfcf;i)$ 

fSttfotmixun  tyre&igcr* 

DECLARATION 

frincf  ©tmte». 

2ftt  fciue 

Stefonnirte  fHeltgtonS  -  ©enoflen 

3n  tyennfpfoanien. 

for  the  community.  On  the  16th  of  August,  1777,  he  was 
accidentally  drowned  at  Bethlehem. 

Jacob  Lischy  is  in  some  respects  the  most  interesting 
person  in  this  period  ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  trace  his  career. 
He  appears  like  a  meteor  and  disappears  in  darkness. 
It  appears  that  he  was  a  native  of  Miihlhausen,  a  con- 
siderable town  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  which  was  at  the  time 
of  his  birth  connected  with  Switzerland.132  Like  his  father 
he  was  by  trade  a  weaver.     Converted  through  the  in- 


131  William  C.  ReichePs  "Memorials  of  the  Moravian  Church,"  I.,  p.  50. 

132  Dr.  Good  says  :  "There  were  two  Jacob  Lischys  born  there  ;  one  on  Sept. 
20,  1716,  the  other  on  May  28,  1719.  We  do  not  know  which  of  them  is  he." 
"History  of  the  Ger.  Ref.  Church,"  p.  238. 


126  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

fluence  of  the  Moravians  he  visited  their  principal  settle- 
ments in  Germany,  and  came  to  America  with  the 
so-called  "  First  Sea  Congregation,"  landing  in  Philadel- 
phia, May  28,  1742.  In  December  of  the  same  year 
Count  Zinzendorf  commissioned  him  to  labor  among  the 
Reformed  people  in  Lancaster  County,  and  in  January, 
1743,  he  was  ordained  by  Bishop  David  Nitschmann.     On 


Stefbrmtrtm  ^tt&feerS 

clatation 


©riitti  ©imtcft 

on  (tint 

SHcfotmirte  $tfi0tong*0etti>ffeit 

in 
Penfyl»«nt'c». 

2»f  25«8ebrm  sbmt  Jrnmfc  fytmt  B«B«bm. 


the  17th  of  September,  1742,  he  was  married  to  Mary, 
second  daughter  of  John  Stephen  Benezet,  merchant  of 
Philadelphia. 

Lischy  was  a  revivalist  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word. 
He  was  a  natural  orator  and  the  people  heard  him  gladly. 
That  he  was  sufficiently  intelligent  is  evident  from  his  cor- 


Fotm ding  of  Churches.  127 

respondence  and  publications.  In  1743  he  was  serving  at 
least  ten  different  congregations  in  four  different  counties  : 
Bern,  Heidelberg  and  Blue  Mountain,  in  Berks ;  Swatara 
and  Quitopehilla,  in  Lebanon ;  Muddy  Creek,  Cocalico, 
Donegal  and  White  Oak,  in  Lancaster ;  and  Vincent,  in 
Chester  County.  He  organized  (or  reorganized)  the  Muddy 
Creek  congregation  May  19,  1743.  In  the  following  year 
he  crossed  the  Susquehanna,  and  in  May,  1745,  organized 

SBfffnenftc 


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cbet 

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Trit*qit.brt"«gtftmimBi  Simtintn)  uttr  Mr  Safamta""'  '"  PcnnftfctiUHN. 
«E«m4m«um(i!t>iu<ftb<!><C&ri#ept>  <3*»r  i7«. 

the  York  and  Creutz  Creek  congregation,  "in  accordance 
with  the  decrees  of  the  Synod  of  Berne."  In  later  years 
his  labors  were  ordinarily  confined  to  the  latter  region,  and 
in  the  minutes  of  Coetus  he  signs  his  name  as  "  Pastor  of 
the  Churches  beyond  the  Susquehanna." 


128  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Lischy's  chief  trouble  was  due  to  his  peculiar  ecclesias- 
tical position.  At  first  he  was  earnestly  devoted  to  the 
Moravian  movement,  and  accompanied  Zinzendorf  on  his 
journey  to  the  Minnisinks ;  but  when  the  Brethren  con- 
solidated into  a  denomination  he  was  gradually  alienated. 
For  a  long  time  he  wavered  between  two  parties,  and 
was  at  different  times  favored  or  rejected  by  both.  He 
published  three  pamphlets,133  in  the  first  of  which  he 
defended  his  position,  and  in  the  second  and  third  sought 
to  explain  the  reasons  for  his  separation  from  the  Mo- 
ravians. 

Though  the  people  were  pleased  with  Lischy's  preaching 
he  was  constantly  employing  words  and  phrases  which 
were  regarded  as  peculiarly  Moravian,  and  there  were 
some  who  were  not  pleased  with  his  frequent  visits  to 
Bethlehem.  He  generally  had  no  difficulty  in  convincing 
them  that  he  was  "  echt  Reformirt  ","  but  his  vacillation — 
not  to  say  prevarication — is  not  to  be  excused.  Several 
popular  conventions  were  held  to  determine  the  status  of 
the  pastor.  At  one  of  these  conventions,  held  in  1743, 
the  convention  issued  a  broadside  which  was  printed  by 
Saur.  Notwithstanding  its  length  we  venture  to  trans- 
late it,  preserving  the  original  spelling  of  proper  names, 
though  there  are  several  evident  mistakes: 


133  The  titles  of  these  publications,  as  given  by  Seidensticker,  are  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  Jacob  L,ischys  Reformirten  Predigers  Declaration  seines  Sinnes.  An 
seine  Reformirten  Religions-Genossen  in  Pennsylvanien.    1743.    8vo,  8  pp. 

2.  Jacob  Lischys  Reformirten  Predigers  zweyte  Declaration  seines  Sinnes 
an  seine  Reformirte  Religions-Genossen  in  Pennsylvanien.  Auf  Begehren 
guter  Freunde  herausgegeben.    Germantown,  C.  Saur.    1748.     4to,  pp.  20. 

3.  Eine  Warnende  Wachterstimme  an  alle  Gott  und  Jesum  liebende  Seelen. 
Hergenommen  aus  dem  iiberaus  wichtigen  Evangelio  von  den  falschen  Pro- 
phaten.    Germantown,  C.  Saur.     1749.    8vo,  48  pp. 

These  titles  are  somewhat  abridged. 


Heidelberg  Convention. 


<s> 


" Announcement. 

M  We,  the  undersigned,  deacons  and  elders  of  Reformed 
congregations  in  Pennsylvania  herewith  inform  our  dear 
brethren  that  on  the  29th  of  the  month  of  August  we 
met  in  large  numbers  in  Heydelberg  township,  in  order 
thoroughly  to  inform  ourselves  concerning  all  the  scandals 

hekantmachung. 

WIR  Vorftener  und  Aelteflen  der  Refomir.cn  Gemeinen  in  ?enr.f,l. 
vanten.  Thun  hiemit  alien  unfern  lieben  Mitbrudern  zu  wiflen,  dafs 
wir  uns  den  29  Auguft  monaht,  in  der  Townlhip  Heydelberg,  in  g'rofler 
anzahl  verfammlet  befurden,  umb  uns  uber  aller  der  Ldtrerung  und 
Lugen,  welche  gegen  unfern  geliebten  Predigcr  'Jacob  Lijfch,  uberall  (o  wo'il 
fchriftlich  als  mundlich  ausgebreicet  wordsn,  grundlich  zu  inform iren,  Wir  haben 
aber  zu  unfercr  freude  und  Trod  vernommen  und  befunden,  dafs  er  nicht  allein 
ein  rLhtig  ordinirter  Prediger  ift  (laut  feines  Ordination  Scheins,  den  wirge. 
fehen  und  gelefen)  fondern  dafs  er  fich  das  Heyl  unferer  Setlen.  und  die  wohl- 
ftrt  aller  gemeinden,  von  hertzen  angelegen  feyn  laflet.  Wie  wir  dann  zu  un- 
fern groflten  vernugen,  es  durch  feine  Evangelifche  Predigten,  fchon  tine  raume 
zeit  erfehen  und  erkanc,  und  durch  feine  Declaration  aufs  neue  verfichert  wor- 
denfind:  Wir  haben  ihn  den  gemelten  Herrn  Jacob  Lifschy  auf  unfern  Kir- 
chen  und  Aelteften  Rath  einmuhtiglich  aufs  neue,  zu  alien  unfern  Gemeinen 
vocirt,  und  werden  uns  in  kiinftige  an  keine  Liigen  reden,  noch  fchriften,  die' 
gegen  ihn  heraus  komrnen  mbchten,  mehr  kehren,  Wir  bitten  unfern  Goct  und 
Herrn,  dafe  er  denfelben  unfern  getreuen  lieben  Prediger,  in  dem  lautern  Sinn, 
in  der  Genade  Jefu  ChrilH,  in  der  Liebe  und  dem  fciifer  in  des  Herrn  Weak 
erhalten  wolle,  damit  alle  unfere  Gemeinden,  durch  d'effelben  getreue  dienlte, 
auf  den  Grund  der  Apoftelenund  Propheten,  da  JcfusChrillus  der.Eckllein  iir, 
wahrTiaftig  gegnindet  und  erbauet  werden  mogen  in  unferm  allerheyligtieo 
glauben ;  Als  die  wir,  fo  viel  uns  der  Herr  gnadc  geben  wird,  ihme  gttrculi.h 
an  <Jie  hand  gehen  und  mithelffen  werden.  Zu  uhrkund  delTcn,  hahen  wir  un- 
iere  Na  lmen  eigenhandig  unterfchrieben,  und  zur  benachrichtigung  aller  unferer 
Mir  Brudcr    offentlich  bekant  machen  wollen. 

Ceg<BeB»uf  unfern  Kirchen  u.  Aelteflen  Rath  in  Heydclberg den  ij  AajttBi,  t  J43. 

""Tobannn  Schneider,  Aeltcfler  in  Bern.  Anthony  Rueger,  Aelt.  am  blaaen  Berpen. 

Sriedeiich  Gcrh.irt,  Aelr  in  Heydelberg.  Iherhart  Rimm,  Vorflch  u  Helfcran  Miidencreefc 

Jjcob&uener,  Aclt  an  der  Cocalico..  Phil.  Breitcnnein,  Aclt.  in  Winttenem  d.  Skuylialt 

/MlflfsScirs  Atk  in  DuuijjaJL  Chriflian  puhrnunn,  j^ek-  ">  Weueichen-Und. 

and  falsehoods  which  have  been  circulated  in  writing  and 
orally  concerning  our  dear  pastor,  Jacob  Lisschy.  To 
our  joy  and  comfort  we  have,  however,  learned  and  con- 
cluded, that  he  is  not  only  a  properly  ordained  minister 


130  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

(according  to  his  certificate  of  ordination  which  we  have 
seen  and  read),  but  that  he  is  heartily  concerned  for  the 
salvation  of  our  souls  and  the  welfare  of  all  the  congrega- 
tions. As  for  some  time  we  have  been  to  our  great  satis- 
faction assured  of  this  fact  by  his  Evangelical  sermons, 
and  are  further  convinced  thereof  by  his  declaration,  we 
have,  at  this  our  council  of  churches  and  elders,  unani- 
mously renewed  our  call  to  him,  the  aforesaid  Mr.  Jacob 
Lisschy,  to  be  the  pastor  of  all  our  congregations,  and  we 
shall  hereafter  take  no  notice  of  lying  speeches  nor  of 
publications  that  may  appear  against  him.  We  pray  our 
Lord  and  Master  that  He  may  preserve  our  dear  and 
faithful  minister  in  purity  of  purpose,  in  the  grace  of 
Jesus  Christ,  in  love  and  in  zeal  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
so  that  all  our  congregations  may,  through  his  faithful 
service,  be  truly  grounded  and  built  up  in  our  most  holy 
faith  on  the  foundations  of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  of 
which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  corner-stone.  And  we,  in  so 
far  as  the  Lord  shall  grant  us  grace,  will  faithfully  sup- 
port and  assist  him.  In  testimony  thereof  we  have  per- 
sonally subscribed  our  names,  and  desire  to  publish  the 
same  for  the  information  of  all  our  brethren. 

"  Given  at  our  council  of  churches  and  elders  in  Heydel- 
berg,  August  29,  1743. 

"Johannes  Schneider,  elder  in  Bern;  Anthony  Rueger, 
elder  at  the  Blue  Mountains;  Friedrich  Gerhart,  elder  in 
Heydelberg  ;  Eberhart  Rimm,  deacon  and  helper  at  Maid- 
encreek  ;  Jacob  Bruener,  elder  at  the  Cocalico  ;  Phil.  Brei- 
tenstein,  elder  in  Wintzen,  on  the  Schuylkill ;  Frantz  Seib, 
elder  in  Dunigall ;  Ludwig  Born,  elder  beyond  the  Schwa- 
tarah  ;   Christian  Fuhrmann,  eld.  at  Whiteoak. 

"  For  the  sake  of  brevity  but  one  elder  from  each  con- 
gregation has  signed  the  above  in  the  na?ne  of  all. 


A    Warning:  131 

"We  furthermore  announce  that  we  as  deacons  and 
elders,  together  with  many  other  discreet  members  of  the 
reformed  church,  have  unanimously  resolved  :  That  in 
order  to  maintain  peace  in  our  congregation,  a  judicious 
man  be  appointed  in  every  township  in  which  the  afore- 
said Mr.  Jacob  Lischy  has  been  accepted  as  pastor,  to 
whom  everything  that  can  be  truthfully  testified  against 
him  (Lischy)  must  be  reported.  If  any  one  should,  there- 
fore, hereafter  discover  in  him  personally  anything  that 
contradicts  our  Reformed  religion  and  doctrine,  he  is 
hereby  notified  to  report  the  same  for  thorough  investiga- 
tion either  to  Stephen  Brecht,  in  Bern;  Frederick  Bbckel, 
in  Heydelberg  ;  Anthony  Riiger,  at  the  Blue  Mountains  ; 
Eberhart  Rimm,  at  the  Maiden  Creek  ;  Michael  Amweg,  at 
the  Cocalico  ;  Conrad  Reffior,  in  Wintzen  township  ;  John 
Etter,  in  Donnigall ;  Peter  Kohl,  in  Whiteoak  Land ; 
Baltzer  Ort,  on  Quintobesil ;  Ludwig  Born,  over  the 
Schwatara ;  or  to  Conrad  Werns,  near  Ephrata.  If  any 
one  ventures  to  slander  this  faithful  preacher  in  writing  or 
word,  and  to  speak  against  him  without  having  brought 
charges  against  him  at  the  aforesaid  places,  we  shall  rec- 
ognize and  regard  that  person  as  a  liar,  deceiver  and 
disturber  of  the  peace ;  and  we  shall  number  him  among 
the  people  who  smite  their  neighbor  with  their  tongue,  and 
according  to  our  Catechism  are  not  to  be  accepted  as 
Christians.  We  all,  therefore,  in  Christian  love,  recom- 
mend unto  such  as  are  inclined  to  judge  and  depreciate 
their  neighbor  to  remember  the  following  passage :  '  I 
say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  man  shall  speak, 
they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment.' 
Matth.  12,  v.  36,  37  ;   Rom.  14,  v.  12. 

"God  willing,  the  sermon  on  Acts  20,  28,  preached  at  the 
Council  of  churches  and  elders,  will  be  published  as  soon 


132  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

as  possible.     Whoever  desires  to  possess  it  should  inform 
the  subscribers." 

About  a  year  later  a  similar  meeting  was  held  at  Muddy 
Creek.  On  this  occasion  Lischy  produced  a  poetic  compo- 
sition which  he  called  a  hymn,  though  it  was  evidently 
never  intended  to  be  sung.  It  was  in  fact  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  adherence  to  the  cause  of  the  Brethren.  The 
"  hymn  "  consists  of  16  stanzas  which  Harbaugh  gives  in 
full.134     The  first  stanza  reads  in  the  original : 

"  Was  soil  der  Knecht  Gottes  Zwinglius, 
Und  der  ehrwiirdige  Calvin  us, 
Doch  wohl  zu  uns  sagen  wenn  sie  herkamen 
Und  ihres  Volks  Sache  so  recht  vernahmen  ? 
Wer  weiss  es  wohl  ?" 

Though  the  whole  composition  is  too  long  for  our  pres- 
ent purpose,  we  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  reproducing 
in  English  a  few  of  the  most  characteristic  stanzas : 135 

"JACOB  LISCHY'S  HYMN. 
"  What  would  God's  servant  Zwinglius, 
And  eke  the  reverend  Calvinus, 
Say  to  their  people  if  they  could  come 
To  learn  the  evils  of  Christendom  ? 
Ah  !  who  can  tell  ? 

"  Methinks  they  would  weep  with  heartfelt  grief, 
To  see  their  people  without  relief; 
For  the  world  is  full  of  sin  and  sorrow, 
That  even  Sodoma  and  Gomorrah 
Were  hardly  worse. 

"  '  Reformed  is  the  name  we  bear,'  'tis  said  ; 
That  means  corrected  and  rightly  led  ; 
But  the  poor  souls  have  gone  astray, 
And  none  of  them  all  can  find  the  way  : 
Kyrie  elels  ! 


134  Harbaugh's  "  Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  I.,  p.  356. 

135  This  version  was  published  by  the  translator  in  "American  Church  His- 
tory "  series,  vol.  8,  p.  276. 


Death  of  Lischy. 


133 


"In  the  decrees  of  the  Synod  of  Berne 
'Tis  fairly  written,  that  all  may  learn, 
That  Christ  is  the  center  of  Christian  teaching, 
And  that  His  blest  passion  of  all  our  preaching 
Must  be  the  theme. 

"  Now  morals  alone  are  preached  to  men, 
Though  Jesus  is  mentioned  now  and  then  : 
In  Lenten  seasons,  when  preachers  choose, 
They  growl  a  little  against  the  Jews, 
How  bad  they  were. 

"  But  we,  by  wisdom  divine  elected, 
And  as  His  people  by  grace  directed, 
The  passion  of  Jesus  exalting  higher, 
Will  join  for  aye  with  the  heavenly  choir, 
To  praise  the  Lamb." 

In  later  years  Lischy  was  fully  identified  with  the  Re- 
formed Church.     In  this  relation  we  may  have  occasion  to 
refer  to  him  again.     He  was  fin- 
ally   deposed    for    moral    delin- 
quency, and  died  in  York  County 
in  1781. 

The  "  Congregation  of  God  in 
the  Spirit"  was  so  exalted  in  its 
purposes  that  we  might  be  in- 
clined to  regret  its  lack  of  per- 
manent success.  The  reasons 
of  its  failure,  however,  are  not 
difficult  to  determine.  In  the  first 
place  the  personal  influence  of 
Count  Zinzendorf  was  too  pro- 
nounced. That  he  was  thoroughly  sincere  could  not  be 
doubted ;  but  his  forms  of  speech  appeared  new  and  pe- 
culiar. The  mystics  were  the  first  to  withdraw,  while 
those  of  the  Reformed  and  Lutherans  who  attended  the 
conferences  became  fully  conformed  to  the  Moravian  type 
of  piety  and  devotion.     To  reach  a  similar  result  with  the 


ZINZENDORF  ARMS. 


134  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

great  multitude  to  whom  such  conditions  were  entirely 
strange,  would  have  demanded  long  and  patient  training, 
and  this  was  evidently  impossible.  So  far  as  the  Reformed 
Church  is  concerned  it  may  be  added  that  from  the  begin- 
ning Zinzendorf  expressed  himself  in  unmistakable  lan- 
guage in  opposition  to  the  high  Calvinism  of  the  Church 
of  Holland,  as  he  conceived  it  to  be  represented  by  Boehm 
and  his  coadjutors.  The  result  may  easily  be  surmised. 
Boehm  set  his  face  like  a  flint  against  the  union  movement, 
and  the  result  was  a  controversy  which  was  hardly  credi- 
table to  either  of  the  parties  involved. 

The  conflict  began  in  Philadelphia.  Here  the  Luther- 
ans and  Reformed  worshipped  jointly  in  a  building  which 
they  had  rented  on  Arch,  above  Fifth  Street.  It  had  orig- 
inally been  a  barn,  but  had  been  fitted  up  with  a  pulpit  and 
seats.136  Zinzendorf,  who  now  preferred  to  be  known  by 
one  of  his  minor  titles  as  Herr  Ludwig  von  Thurnstein,  or 
morebrieflyas  "Bruder  Ludwig,"  preached  for  the  first  time 
to  the  Lutherans,  January  21, 1742.  Before  preaching  there 
he  wrote  to  Boehm,  inquiring  whether,  as  he  occupied  the 
same  pulpit,  he  had  any  authority  to  prevent  his  preaching 
there,  at  the  same  time  giving  him  a  pretty  sharp  thrust  on 
the  subject  of  doctrine.  Boehm's  reply  was  very  laconic, 
merely  stating  that  the  Reformed  had  "  nothing  to  enjoin 
on  the  Lutherans  on  their  own  time,"  but  "  protesting  if 
any  one  should  say  that  permission  was  given  from  the 
Reformed  side,  or  from  us,  to  preach  at  the  time  and  place 
belonging  to  the  Reformed."  The  Lutherans  might  do  as 
they  pleased,  but  he  would  "have  no  part  in  what  might 
grow  out  of  it."  137     Some  of  the  Lutherans  called  Zinzen- 

136  Reichel's  "Memorials  of  the  Moravian  Church,"  I.,  p.  178.  This  was 
probably  the  earliest  Union  Church  in  Pennsylvania. 

137  For  this  correspondence,  and  for  an  account  of  the  whole  imbroglio,  see 
Harbaugh's  "  Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  I.,  pp.  279-283. 


Controversial  Tracts.  135 

dorf  to  the  pastorate  of  their  church,  and  the  result  was  a 
conflict  which  it  is  not  our  place  to  describe. 

In  the  same  year,  1742,  Boehm  published  his  Gctreuer 
Warmings  Brief,  which  was  in  fact  a  severe  attack  on 
Zinzendorf  and  the  Moravians.  It  evoked  a  reply  from 
G.  Neisser,  of  Bethlehem,  in  which  Boehm's  strictures 
were  just  as  sharply  answered.  From  internal  evidence 
the  latter  book  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  the 
Count  himself.  In  1745  Boehm  published  his  Abermah- 
lige  Treue  Warming,  which  was  a  publication  of  very 
similar  character.133 

We  have  no  desire  to  consider  the  merits  of  this  painful 
controversy.  In  justice  to  the  memory  of  Boehm  it  is,  how- 
ever, necessary  to  say  that  his  strictures  were  not  original 
and  that  he  sincerely  believed  in  their  truthfulness.  Ac- 
cording to  his  own  declaration  he  was  but  following  the 
example  of  his  patron  Gerardus  Kulenkamp,  pastor  in 
Amsterdam,  who  in  1739  had  issued  a  similar  publication. 
He  might,  indeed,  have  referred  to  many  writers,  for  the 
presses  of   Germany    and    England   teemed  with   similar 

138  Abridged  titles  of  these  publications  are  as  follows  : 

1.  Getreuer  Warnings  Brief  an  die  Hochteutsche  Evangelisch  Re- 
formirten  Gemeinden  und  alle  deren  Glieder  in  Pennsylvanien,  zur  getreuen 
Warschauung  von  denen  Leuthen,  welche  unter  dem  nahmen  von  Herrn- 
huther  bekandt  seyn.  *  *  •  Nach  dem  exempel  eines  Ehrwiirdigen  Kirchenraths 
von  Amsterdam  in  Holland.  Und  nun  vor  dem  allmachtigen  Gott  tragender 
Pflicbt  und  Schuldigkeit  halben  geschrieben  von  mir  Job. :  Ph  :  Bohm, 
Hochteutschen  Reform.  Prediger  der  mir  anvertrauten  Gemeinden  in  Penn- 
sylvanien zu  Philadelphia  :  Gedruckt  bey  A.  Bradford,  1742.    8vo,  iv,  96  pp. 

2.  Aufrichtige  Nachricht  ans  Publicum,  iiber  eine  von  dem  Hol- 
landischen  Pfarrer  Joh.  Phil.  Bohmen  bei  Mr.  Andr.  Bradford  edirte  Laster- 
schrift  gegen  die  so  genannten  Herrnhuter,  das  ist,  Die  Evangelischen  Briider 
aus  Bohmen,  Mahrenu.  s.f.  Welche  jetzo  in  den  Forks  von  Delaware  wohnen. 
Herausgegeben  von  George  Neisser,  aus  Sehlen  in  Mahren,  Schulmeister  zu 
Bethlehem.    Cum  approbatione  Superiorum   [B.Franklin].    4to,  18  p. 

3.  Abermahlige  Tretje  Warnung  und  Vennahnung  an  meine  sehr 
werthe  und  theuer  geschatzte  Reformirte  Glaubensverwandte  wie  audi  all 
andere,  die  den  Herrn  Jesum  lieb  haben,  sein  Heil.  Evangelium  und  seine 
Heil.  Sacramenten  in  hoehsten  Werth  halten.  Philadelphia,  Isaiah  Warner 
und  Cornelia  Bradford,  fol.  4  pp.—Seidensticker. 


136  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Schmahschriften .  The  writer  has,  for  instance,  in  his 
library,  a  collection  of  no  less  than  seven  tracts  by  Henry 
Rimius,  translated  and  published  in  London  between  1753 
and  1757,  which  are  more  keenly  controversial  than  any- 
thing written  by  Boehm.  The  latter  was  no  doubt  misin- 
formed ;  but  there  is  no  occasion  for  supposing  that  he  was 
intentionally  scurrilous  or  unjust. 

In  his  Warnungs  Brief  Boehm  refers  affectionately  to 
his  early  friendship  for  Henry  Antes.  He  says:  "God 
only  knows  what  took  place  between  Antes  and  myself,  as 
both  our  hearts  were  bound  together  in  a  hearty  love  to 
the  divine  truth  in  our  Reformed  doctrines.  And  he  has 
not  forgotten,  I  am  sure,  how  he  was  one  of  those  who  by 

Abermahlige trcue  Wainungund  Vermahnungan  meinefchr 

werthe  und  theuer  gefchatzte  Reformirte  Glaubens-verwandtc,  wie  auch  afle  andere 
die  den  Herren  Jesum  lieb  haben,  fcin  Heil.  Evangelium  und  feine  HeiL  Sacramenten 
in  hochftem  werth  halten.  Denen  fambt  und  fondcrs  wunfche  ich,  dais  fie,  durch  die 
Gnade  JesuChristi,  dieLiebefeines  Himmlifchen  Vatters,  und  den  KrafFtig-wurckcn- 
<fen  beyftandt  Gottes  des  HeiL  Geiftcs  mogcn  bewahrt  werden  Tor  ahem  Irrthum  und 
Scbaden  ihrer  unficrblicben  Seclen.     Amen. 

Alic  favibt  Gelitbte. 

MIT  euch  abcr  rr.einrfi  Re'igjaru  v<  rwandtai  will  ich  zuforderft  reden,  und  alien  andern  wehrtro  Ch/iflea 
mag  cs  zur  nachricht  diencn. 

fcs  ill  »Brt  orthco  in  diefem  l-«nde  ?n(jlvjvim  vtjig  offtnbahr,  daG  einige  von  unferer  Ref.  Religion  (b 
unvorfichtig  in  dem  von  Chrillu  ihnca  Mara  14  v.  18.  anbefohlcnen  wachen  und  taren  fich  bezeigen,  (6  daft 
ts  dem  TiulVl  welcher  herum  gihtl  wie  ein  b-ullender  Lowe  und  fudiet  welchen  er  verlchlingen-inoge,  fail 
tin  leichte»  ift,  filcne  in  dun  wjiren  Cnrilhnthum  fchlaff.nde,  in  der  neugierigkeir  abtr  urn  fremder,  ja  faU 
Icher  Lthre.  nach  zu  laitficn  Ichr  wackcre  Menlchen,  aul  den  Icliad.ichllen  Irrwcg,  zu  ihret  Seeleo  ewigen  thai 
<lcn  zu  veruiien,  und  endlich  gar  zu  vwr'chlingen. 

Ich  habe  vorm'  Jahr,  nacb.  mciner  pflkhi  und  fchuldigkeit,'  meincn  getreuen  Warnungs  Brief  gegen  die  (b- 
genantc  Hrfrn-huther,  (die  am  endc  d:s  Jahrs  1741  in  dis  Landc  grkommen  find)  und  deren  frelverderbliche 
und  g«wiflen  vcrwuftende  Lehre  hcraus  kommen  laflVn,  welcher  in  6  und  1-4  Bogen  kleinen  Druck  brftehec, 
tmd  auch  Nachricht  gegeben,  djfs  er  bey  Ka/per  Ullrich  und  Micbcl  HiUrgai  in  PbiLJelpbia,  bey  Jacob  Butt- 
mam  in  Ccfmjnlimm,  biy  Cthicl  Sthiltr  und  Peter  Spiicitr  in  Schiphacb,  bey  Htnricb  TAringcr  iro  Fuuluur- 
St'owam,  bey  1[mc  Ltvand  in  01),  und  bey  Jirg  Uxrvb  in  Dclpibachn  zu  finden  feve.  U'oiinnen  allc  wahr- 
hafoce  Nacliricht^wifi-kh  Ste  nut.  Ucllonj -{welches  von  Hoher  Univcrfuai  zu  Leyacn  in  HuUand  gcapprobirt 
Ift)  und  andem  onhen  her  habe.  Ui;d  bin  ich  gewils,  dais  ein  jeder,  der  dielen  Brief  recht  einfichet  und  mit 
*ndacht  hctrachtet,  wird  den  (elben  nicnt  allein  um  alles  alhier  unrer  uns  vom  Herrn.hutern  bifher  gcpailinea 
dineeH,  als  wahrheit  beunheilcn  kOnnen;  (ondern  fich  aoch  vor  dieler  Herrn-burilchen  Grcuel-Lchre,  zu  feiner 
Seelcn  ewigen  biften  Zu  huten  wiuca.     £s  fcheinet  ab-.r  dafs  die  scringe  knftin  umb  dicfen  Rrief  ■».■  M.««~- 


Henry  Frey.  137 

his  tears  brought  me  to  it  that  I  put  the  yoke  (of  the  min- 
istry) on  my  neck." 

It  is  evident,  we  think,  that  Antes  hesitated  long  before 
he  fully  identified  himself  with  the  Moravian  community. 
When  Henry  Frey  went  to  Germany  he  and  William  Frey 
charged  him  upon  his  conscience  to  give  them  a  faithful 

„  Aufrichtige 

NACHRICHT 

A  N  S 

PUBLICUM, 

Ubtr  cine 

Von  dem  Hollandifchen  Pfarrcr  Joh.  Phil.  Bohmbn 
bei  Mr.  Andr.  Bradford  edirte 

Lafterfchrift 

Gegei* 

Die  fogenannten  HERRNHUTER, 

Dai  ift, 

Die  Evangelifchen  Bruder  'ix&Bobmen,  Mahren%  u.  f.  f. 

Welche 

Jetzo  in  den  Forks  inn  tlelateart  wohnen. 

Henasgcgebeo  Ton 

CEORC    NEIS8ER,-  aus  Seblen  in  Mdbren. 
Schulmeifler  zu  Bethlehem. 

Cum  Approbationz  Superiorutn. 

PHILADELPHIA, 
Gedrokkt  und  zu  habeo  bei  B.  FRANKLIN,  m  dcc  xlii. 

account  of  whatever  he  had  observed  among  the  Mora- 
vians, promising  that  "if  the  community  did  not  answer 
expectations  and  he  should  return  to  Pennsylvania,  they 
would  defray139  his  charges."     Frey  had  been  one  of  the 

1,9  "A  True  and  Authentic  Account  of  Andrew  Frey,"  London,  1753,  p.  65. 


138  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

"Associated  Brethren  of  Skippack,"  who  met  in  1738  at 
the  house  of  "  Stoff el "  Wiegner.      According  to  a  note 

\§\\t  mid)  betmaWcit  in  c'inigc  Unfcvfudjimg  cinjulafTcrt,  ot>  eSeinc©nabcn* 
£cimf"d)ung  ©otrc$  tor  tin  Cant),  <5rabt  ober  $>a\xi  fen,  roenn  ^nccf;tc 
(ffjrifri  babjn  fommen  ton  ber  2lrt  unb  9?atur  unfcrS'jSrubcr  £ubmig$, 
unb  ofjne  mir90tfd)e  sugeben  311  kiDcifcn,  bafj  biefcr  genugfam  bcfanteSSrubcr  cut 
£ned)t3cfu(£r)rifrifcn,tvcilbic9Sebejct}r md)tt>oucincut  Db  unb  £>icnxtf,fonbcrii 
nur  ton  cincm  SSJtc  unb  SBann  ift,  fo  f;abc  nac^  crfori>eru  6cr  (5nc0c  vor jefjt 
nut  fotiel  feinetfjafben  befant  madjen  fallen, baf?  mil  man  in  PcrfdncbencnSottuu 
fd)ip$  tcrfaugen  gerragen  fjat/  tint  aimed)  von  3cfu  jcugen  ju  fcorcn,  mib  ir)nt  fo!= 
<t)e$  eineg  tfjeite  fcinc©emcinc©imd)rungcn  3u  *;5erl)fe()cm  unb  91aiaretf),anbern 
d)tti$  (tint  iKcifcn  nntct  bic  3nbtancr  bifjfjcr  ntcfit  vfrfratfet;  glctcfjtt>or  abcr  bie 
ton  anfang  befrimmte  3cit  feinct  2Bict>cr  sun'ict^ctfe  fcfjr  Ijaamiatytjo  ift  crge* 
fonncn  nod;  feinct  gcenbigten  fcOtcn  9?cifc,  n>cld)e£  or)ngcfcr):  ju  (Jnbe  unfcnS  Ot-- 
tobcrS  fecn  m6d)te,  foticl  moglid)  in  uUe  £ortrrfd)ipg  3U  fouunen,  unb  bafclbft  3U 
prebigen  tropin  man  ir)n  tcrlangcn  tturbc. 

Q$  werben  bolero  alle  bicjenigen,  wcldje  ctitttcbcr  fdjon,  ebcr  nod)  nidjt  befc 
Ijalber  Smfudjung  gctfjan  inSgcfammt  freunbud)  gebctch,  fia)  bifjfalis  fnjcitcit, 
ctmtcbetbct)  mir  m  5afrfncr=(5d)rtamni  ober  in  SScrfjIefjcin,  ober  ben  ben 
SSrubero,  bic  (id)  t)ic  unb  ba  in  ben  2otvnfcf)ipcn  auffjaltcn  fd)rifft  ober  inintb* 
lid;  3u  melbcn,unb  juglctd)  dountt)  2en>nfd)ip  unb  On  j-ufcenennen  tt>o  crofj= 
m  Confrabicrton  prebigen  tonne,  bamit  cr  gletd)  nact)  fcincr  juriiefftmfFt  von 
ben  3nbianern,  fcinc  3cit  geftortgcrmafTcn  cinf r)cifen,  unb  jcbem  bci^eiten  srtadj; 
tid)t  geben  fenne,tt>o  unb  worn  <5r  in  biefent  ober  jenem  Dtt  prebigen  ttcrbf. 

Sdlan  goffer,  bafj  biefeiS  fonft  ungeroMmlidje  Sibtcrttfcment  uut  befto  ttcnigcr 
jemanb  anfiofllg  fenn  tterbc,  je  ttcniger  man  Ucberflufj  an  ber  <prcbigt  bcS 
(Etangclii  in  biefcm  danbe  Oaf,  unb  c$  rtirb  and)  nidjt  tor  unnoffjig  311  ndjreit 
fenn,  n>eil  alle  fold;c  Pncautioncs  fcunn  fjinfnngfict)  finb,  gcreiflen  t'euten  bet)* 
jubringen,  nrie  fcfcr  tofel  baran  gefegen,  bit  ^eit  rcd;t  au^surauffen,  tt>clct»cd  and) 
bamit  jucrTOcifcu  ift,  bafj  al€  man  ir)ncn  nnfienb  mad)tc,  bafj  man  fid;  ttjrcc 
^mber  unb  bcren  S(ufcrsief)iing  fjalber  ta  unb  bort  mtt  ifcnen  befprcdjcu  xvollt, 
gar  iTlicntanb  fam,  3u  befttmmter  ^?cif,  unb  c$  fctienc,  al6  ob  €^iemanben  ct* 
iva^  bran  gelegcn  (ci>.  <&$  t)abeu  fid)  bod)  aber  cine  fo  grofe  2fn^af)f  (tit  ber 
3cit  bc^fai^  gcmelbet  unb  fo  bcuxgh'd),  caii  t$  un^  rcdjt  nar)e  gegangen,  cd 
ihnen  barum  abfd)fagen  3U  muflen,  tvcil  ivirnad)  pcrf^umter  3tit,  ba  e^t}ntte 
fonncn  9legiilirt  tterben,  nun  unfer  3at)r  unbSflg  nidjt  tin  ©tanbe  finb,3f)nctt 
311  willfalncn. 

3d)  itiinfd)e  besnxgen,  bafj  Ut,  cencn  baran  gefegen  <5niber  Cu>wig 
prebigen  3U  fjoren,  fid)  ber  rect)ten  3tit  bebtcnen,  unb  begfaf^  an  ge^Jrfgeiri 
Drr  mclben  ni&gen;  benn  cr  ift  willig,  aber  nid)t  treibenb  in  fofcOen  ©ad>cn. 

T>ai  babt  id)  befant  mad)cn  toollcn  in  unfer^  'SruberCubnugtf  abtoc*- 
fenljcit,  abcr  mit  fcincm  23ornnfTen. 


The   Grave  of  Antes.  139 

added  by  the  editor  of  his  book,  he  was  "  a  Baptist  who 
wore  a  long  beard,  living  as  a  solitary  in  the  garden-lodge  " 
at  Herrnhag.  He  was  a  natural  growler,  and  after  he 
left  the  Brethren  he  attacked  them  violently  in  print.  His 
book  is  of  no  value ;  but  in  it  he  frequently  refers  to  his 
"old  neighbor,"  Henry  Antes,  who,  he  tells  us,  in  1748, 
has  "  laid  his  head  in  their  lap  and  been  honored  with  the 
dignity  of  a  beadle." 

It  was,  indeed,  in  that  year  that  Antes  removed  with 
his  family140  to  Bethlehem.  Here  he  was  active  in  every 
good  work  and  was  very  highly  esteemed.  In  1750  U1  he 
left  Bethlehem  and  returned  to  his  farm  in  Frederick 
township.  Though  there  was  a  disagreement  he  never 
separated  from  the  Moravians,142  and  was  often  called  to 
Bethlehem  for  consultation  in  important  matters.  He 
died  in  1755  and  was  buried  on  his  farm,  about  halfway 
between  Falkner  Swamp  and  Keeler's  churches.  Ten 
Brethren  came  from  Bethlehem  and  bore  his  body  to  its 
rest.     His  tombstone  bears  the  following  inscription  : 


140  Henry  Antes  was  married  in  1726  to  Christina  Dewees,  a  daughter  of 
William  Dewees,  the  leading  member  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  White 
Marsh.  They  had  eleven  children,  of  whom  three  died  in  childhood.  Six 
of  these  children  were  baptized  by  Boehtn,  three  by  Spangenberg,  and  in  two 
instances  the  name  of  the  officiating  minister  does  not  appear  on  the  record. 
The  family  record,  with  notes,  was  published  by  I.  D.  Rupp,  in  June,  1872,  in  the 
Reformed  Church  Messenger.  The  surviving  sons  became  eminent  men. 
See  "On  the  Frontier  with  Col.  Antes,"  by  E.  McMinn,  1900.  A  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  was  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Pomp,  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

141  For  accounts  of  his  later  years  see  Harbaugh,  Reichel,  McMinn  and 
others. 

142  At  the  same  time  we  do  not  doubt  that  Antes  regarded  himself  as  a 
member  of  the  Reformed  Church.  I,.  T.  Reichel  says  :  "Zinzendorf  never  so 
much  as  thought  of  separating  from  the  Lutheran  Church,  to  which  he  had 
from  his  youth  been  devoted  with  pure  affection."  Kirchenfreund,  I.,  p.  93. 
In  a  similar  sense  we  may  say  that  Antes  never  thought  of  changing  his  con- 
fession of  faith,  but  remained  to  the  end  "the  pious  Reformed  man  of  Fred- 
erick township." 


140 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


Hier  ruhet 

Heinrich  Antes : 

Ein  Kleinod  dieses  Landes  ; 

Ein  redlich  kiihner 
Handhaber  der  Gerechtigkeit 

Und  treuer  Diener 

Vor  Welt  und  Gottes  Leut. 

Entschlief 

In  Friedrichs-Town  den  20  Julii 

1755 
Seines  alters  54  Jahr. 


The  epitaph  may  be  translated,  though  it  loses  its  beauty 
in  translation: 


Here  rests 

Henry  Antes 

An  Ornament  of  this  Land  ; 

An  upright,  fearless 

Administrator  of  Justice, 

and  a  faithful  servant 

Before  the  world's  and  God's  people. 

Fell  asleep 

In  Frederick-Town  July  20 

1755 
Aged  54  years. 


"  The  congregation  of  God  in  the  Spirit  "  was  continued 
after  the  seven  early  conferences  in  a  somewhat  different 
form.  There  was  a  series  of  General  Synods  of  Penn- 
sylvania which,  after  Zinzendorf's  return  to  Europe,  were 
organized  and  directed  by  Spangenberg.     These  synods 


The   Reformed    Collegium.  141 

ordinarily  met  every  three  months.  Though  the  minor 
sects  were  no  longer  represented,  there  was  a  Lutheran 
consistorium  and  a  Reformed  collegium,  besides  the  gen- 
eral meeting  of  the  Brethren.  The  Reformed  collegium 
was  organized  at  the  15th  meeting  of  the  synod ;  and  at 
the  17th  meeting  it  was  resolved  that  the  Lutheran  and 
Reformed  ministers  shall  mutually  have  the  privilege  of 
attending  each  other's  meetings,  though  without  the  right 
of  voting.  The  Reformed  organization  seems  to  have 
drawn  to  it  certain  English  elements  which  may  have  been 
originally  Presbyterian.  In  the  extant  minutes  of  this 
body,  held  in  Philadelphia,  August  12,  1746,  it  is  stated 
that  there  were  present  three  ordained  Reformed  ministers, 
one  ordained  English  preacher,  three  unordained  English 
preachers,  and  seventeen  elders  and  deacons.143  In  this 
connection  we  find  the  names  of  Utley  and  D.  Bruce,  who 
are  called  Reformed  ministers,  though  they  are  not  known 
in  the  history  of  the  German  church.  After  Schlatter  had 
founded  the  Coetus,  Reichel  tells  us,  the  Reformed  colle- 
gium naturally  dissolved,  and  "the  Reformed  churches 
which  had  been  served  by  Brethren  either  joined  the 
Unitas  or  their  members  were  scattered  among  other  con- 
gregations." The  church  of  the  Brethren  had  also  be- 
come more  consolidated,  and  had  organized  its  ministry  in 
three  orders,  as  had  hitherto  been  usual  only  in  Europe. 
It  felt  an  earnest  call  to  the  work  of  foreign  missions  and 
was  therefore  more  willing  to  retire  from  a  task  which  had 
now  been  taken  up  by  others.  The  twenty-eighth  synod 
of  the  "  Congregation,"  held  at  Bethlehem,  October  23-27, 
1748,  accordingly  became  the  first  synod  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum  in  America.  After  this  date  a  few  Lutheran  and 
Reformed  ministers  continued  for  several  years  to  attend 

143  L.  T.  Reichel  in  Schaff's  Kirchenfruend,  II.,  103. 


142 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


the  synods  as  visitors,  but  the  organization  was  completely 
Moravian. 

The  first  period  in  the  American  history  of  the  German 
Reformed  Church  had  now  ended,  and  the  second  was 
about  to  begin.  There  had  been  much  confusion,  but 
there  were  also  many  examples  of  self-sacrificing  devo- 
tion. The  highest  ideals  of  the  pioneers  had  not  been  at- 
tained ;  but  their  labors  had  left  a  permanent  impression 
on  the  life  and  character  of  the  Church. 


FETT  AMPEI.,   SUCH  AS  USED  BY  THE   EARLY  GERMANS  IN 
LANCASTER  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER   X. 

Schlatter    and    His    Mission. 

St.  Gall — Schlatter's  Early  Life— Mission  to  America— Extensive  Jour- 
neys— Founding  of  Coetus — Two  Voyages  to  Europe — Charity  Schools 
— Later  Years. 

7THE  city  of  St.  Gall,  the 
^^  capital  of  the  Swiss 
canton  of  the  same  name,  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting 
cities  in  Europe.  No  other 
town  of  any  importance  oc- 
cupies so  high  an  eleva- 
tion among  the  mountains. 
Though  still  surrounded  by 
ancient  walls  it  has  re- 
cently become  a  manufac- 
turing center  of  no  mean 
importance.  During  the 
Middle  Ages  it  was  celebrated  all  over  Europe  as  the 
seat  of  a  Benedictine  abbey — founded  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury by  the  Scotch  monk  Gallus — but  in  the  days  of  the 
Reformation  the  town  became  Protestant,  and  its  monastic 
institution  gradually  declined,  so  that  in  1805  it  was  en- 
tirely suppressed. 

(i43) 


fc! 

\U^m 

3gs3 

isfiy^ 

ARMS 

OF   THE 

BOEHM 

FAMILY 

144  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

It  was  in  this  city  that  Michael  Schlatter  was  born,  July 
14,  17 16.  His  father,  Paulus  Schlatter,  was  a  book- 
keeper, but  belonged  to  an  old  and  influential  family.  His 
mother,  Magdalena  Zollikofer,  was  descended  from  a  dis- 
tinguished family,  which  had  produced  a  number  of  emi- 
nent ministers  and  devotional  authors.144  Closely  related 
were  the  Stahelins,  Wegelins  and  other  families  which  held 
a  prominent  position  in  church  and  state. 

Concerning  Michael  Schlatter's  youth  little  is  known. 
He  was  a  vigorous  son  of  the  mountains,  and  may  have 
found  it  difficult  to  discover  an  outlet  for  his  superfluous 
energy.  Having  for  some  time  attended  the  gymnasium 
of  his  native  place  he  received  special  instructions  from 
Professor  Wegelin  ;  but  he  was  of  a  restless,  roving  dis- 
position, and  finally  without  the  knowledge  of  his  parents 
he  went  to  Holland  where  the  family  had  relatives.  Here 
he  learned  the  Dutch  language,  and  was  on  the  27th  of 
Dec,  1736,  matriculated  at  the  University  of  Leyden.  Sub- 
sequently he  went  to  Helmstadt  in  Brunswick,  and  prob- 
ably studied  in  the  university  of  that  place.  He  travelled 
for  some  time  in  the  company  of  a  Mr.  Huerner,  of  Berne, 
but  in  1739  vve  find  him  again  in  St.  Gall  where  on  April 
10th  he  was  examined  for  the  ministry  and  duly  licensed. 
Then  he  went  to  Holland  and  served  for  some  time  as 
a  private  tutor.  He  returned  to  Switzerland  in  1744  an(^ 
became  vicarius  at  Wigoldingen  in  the  canton  of  Thurgau, 
where  he  was  no  doubt  ordained.  On  August  17,  1745,  he 
was  appointed  Sunday-evening  preacher  at  Linsebuehl,  a 


144  Casper  Zollikofer  (born  1707)  and  George  Joachim  Zollikofer  (1730- 
1788)  were  the  authors  of  many  popular  hymns.  The  latter  was  pastor  of  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Leipsic,  and  was  regarded  as  the  foremost  preacher  in 
Germany.  Two  prayer-books,  published  by  members  of  the  family,  are  still 
in  popular  use. 


Schlatter  in  Holland.  145 

suburb  of  his  native  city  of  St.  Gall.  The  position  was 
as  unpromising  as  can  well  be  imagined. 

On  January  9,  1746,  Schlatter — without  saying  much  to 
any  one — left  St.  Gall  and  started  on  another  journey  to 
Holland.  It  is  said,  on  the  authority  of  a  Holland  docu- 
ment, that  he  had  learned  that  the  church  in  Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania,  was  vacant,  and  that  at  first  he  proposed 
to  offer  himself  for  that  pastorate.145  At  Heidelberg  he 
was  cordially  received  and  recommended  to  the  Synod 
of  Holland  for  the  work  in  Pennsylvania.  After  a  diffi- 
cult journey  through  the  snows  of  a  severe  winter  he  ar- 
rived at  the  Hague  in  March,  1746. 

For  eighteen  years  the  church  of  Holland  had  been  di- 
rectly interested  in  the  German  Churches  of  Pennsylvania, 
but  circumstances  had  hitherto  prevented  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  plans  which  had  been  proposed  for  their  ad- 
vantage. Dr.  Good  has  shown  how  two  currents  had  met 
in  Holland  in  1728,  influencing  the  Dutch  Church  to  care 
for  the  Reformed  colonists  in  Pennsylvania.  One  of  these 
was  derived  from  the  petition  of  John  Philip  Boehm  for 
ordination ;  the  other  came  from  the  report  of  George 
Michael  Weiss  which  called  the  attention  of  the  Palatine 
consistory  to  the  sad  condition  of  their  countrymen  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  induced  them  to  appeal  in  their  behalf 
to  the  Synod  of  South  Holland.  To  this  might  be  added 
the  fact  that  the  sufferings  of  the  exiled  Palatines  were 
still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  people  of  Holland.  They 
had  not  forgotten  the  days  when  thousands  of  innocent 
fugitives  from  French  invasion  had  found  a  temporary 
refuge  in  the  Netherlands  on  their  way  to  a  foreign  land. 

The   Hollanders  had  always  been  celebrated  for  their 


145  Article  in  the  Reformed  Church  Messenger  for  Oct.  25,  1900,  by  the 
Rev.  George  Merle  de  Fere  Zacharias. 


146 


The  Reformed  Church  tn  America. 


liberality.  When  Louis  XIV.  invaded  the  Netherlands  he 
said  :  "I  am  afraid  God  will  not  suffer  me  to  conquer  that 
country ;  the  people  are  so  generous  that  He  will  surely 
protect  them."  Holland,  we  know,  was  in  those  days  the 
greatest  commercial  nation  in  the  world  ;  but  we  are  apt  to 
forget  that  its  missionary  work  extended  as  far  as  its  flag 
was  known.  The  Church  of  Holland  appears  to  have  been 
the  first  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  Christian  work  should 
be  performed  with  at  least  as  much  earnestness  and  direct- 


HOLEAND   ESCUTCHEON. 

ness  as  is  manifested  by  successful  merchants  in  the  trans- 
action of  their  ordinary  business.  If  the  churches  of  Penn- 
sylvania were  to  receive  aid,  the  work  of  relieving  them 
must  become  a  branch  of  the  missionary  activity  that  cen- 
tered in  Holland,  and  must  be  conducted  according  to  the 
somewhat  formal  methods  which  were  already  employed 
in  the  Dutch  colonial  churches. 


Schlatter 's  Instructions.  147 

There  were,  it  is  true,  certain  difficulties  which  at  first 
sight  appeared  to  be  almost  insurmountable.  The  Ger- 
mans of  Pennsylvania  were  not  of  Holland  speech  or 
nationality  ;  they  had  not  been  trained  to  acknowledge  the 
national  confessions  of  the  Netherlands,  and  it  would  re- 
quire much  labor  to  bring  them  into  full  accord  with  their 
new  ecclesiastical  relations.  What  was  needed  was  a 
man  who  could  speak  the  language  of  both  nationalities  ; 
who  was  willing  to  be  the  confidential  agent  of  the  Dutch 
synods,  and  might  serve  as  a  personal  link  between  the 
old  world  and  the  new. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  Michael  Schlatter  appears  upon 
the  scene.  He  had  heard  of  the  destitution  of  the 
churches  of  Pennsylvania,  and  from  the  depth  of  his  soul 
he  cried  :  "  Here  ami,  send  me  !  "  His  qualifications  for 
the  work  were  unmistakable.  He  had  been  educated  in 
Holland  and  was  supposed  to  be  orthodox  according  to 
Dutch  standards ;  he  spoke  the  languages  of  Holland  and 
Germany  with  equal  fluency ;  and  was  withal  a  republican 
Swiss  who  might  be  expected  to  conform  most  readily  to 
the  customs  of  a  country  where  royalty  was  practically 
unknown.  Hence  we  are  not  surprised  that  when  Schlat- 
ter appeared  before  the  Dutch  synod  there  was  a  general 
feeling  that  the  hour  and  the  man  had  come.  His  service 
was  accepted  and  he  at  once  received  the  necessary  in- 
structions for  his  momentous  mission. 

These  instructions  were  plain  and  unmistakable.  In  a 
slightly  abbreviated  form  they  were  as  follows  : 

1.  He  was  to  visit  the  different  settlements;  to  organize 
churches  where  this  had  not  been  done ;  to  ordain  elders 
and  deacons  and  prepare  proper  church  records. 

2.  He  was  to  ascertain  what  amount  each  congregation 
could  give  towards  the  support  of  a  settled  pastor,  and  to 


148  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

organize    the    scattered    congregations    into    convenient 
charges. 

3.  To  visit  the  ministers  already  in  the  field,  and  in- 
duce them  to  unite  in  the  organization  of  a  Coetus  or 
Synod,  for  the  oversight  of  all  the  churches. 

4.  To  pay  annual  visits  to  ministers  and  consistories ; 
to  promote  harmony  between  them  ;  to  see  that  salaries 
were  promptly  paid,  and  to  report  regularly  to  the  Church 
of  Holland  ;  and  finally, 

5.  When  this  work  was  accomplished  to  preach  for 
other  pastors,  as  he  might  be  invited,  having  an  eye  also 
to  such  destitute  points  as  might  come  to  his  knowledge. 

All  this  seems  like  a  large  order,  but  Schlatter  did  not 
shrink  from  what  it  involved.  He  seems  to  have  been 
as  ready  to  start  on  his  journey  as  the  clerk  of  some  great 
commercial  house  would  have  been  if  he  had  been  or- 
dered to  report  in  Sumatra  or  Borneo.  His  instructions 
were  dated  on  the  23d  of  May,  1746,  and  on  the  first  of 
June — nine  days  later — he  set  sail  for  America.  There 
was  no  loitering  by  the  way,  no  elaborate  preparations,  no 
long  visits  to  be  paid  to  friends ;  he  simply  went  at  once 
where  duty  called  him.  Like  St.  Paul  he  might  have 
said  :   "  This  one  thing  I  do  !  " 

The  public  career  of  Michael  Schlatter  is  full  of  illus- 
trations of  his  extraordinary  energy.  He  landed  in  Boston 
after  a  dangerous  voyage  on  August  1,  1746,  where  he 
was  cordially  entertained  by  an  eminent  Dutch  merchant, 
the  Hon.  I.  Wendell — an  ancestor  of  the  poet  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes — but  without  lingering  an  unnecessary 
hour  he  bought  a  horse  and  rode  to  New  York.  Here  he 
stayed  just  long  enough  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Dutch 
"dominies,"  and  then  he  was  off  for  Philadelphia.  On 
the   evening  of   his  arrival   he  held   a  consultation  with 


Missionary  Journeys.  149 

the  officers  of  the  Church,  and  next  morning  rode  out  to 
Whitpain,  in  Montgomery  County,  to  visit  the  Rev.  John 
Philip  Boehm,  the  oldest  Reformed  minister  in  America. 
The  following  may  serve  as  an  illustration  of  his  restless 
activity :  On  the  18th  of  September  he  preached  in  Phil- 
adelphia and  Germantown,  and  induced  both  congrega- 
tions to  accede  to  the  plans  of  the  Fathers  in  Holland ; 
next  day  he  rode  to  Old  Goshenhoppen,  in  Montgomery 
County,  where  he  preached  on  the  following  day  for  the 
Rev.  George  Michael  Weiss.  On  Wednesday  he  went  to 
Skippack  on  a  financial  mission,  and  next  day  to  Oley, 
Berks  County  ;  thence  next  day  to  Tulpehocken,  in  what 
is  now  Lebanon  County,  a  distance  of  29  miles,  where  he 
administered  the  communion ;  next  day  to  Lancaster,  to 
preach  on  the  following  day ;  and  immediately  after  the 
sermon  started  for  Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
26th  and  preached  for  the  congregation  of  which  he  had 
now  been  chosen  pastor.  All  this,  it  will  be  observed,  was 
done  in  little  more  than  a  week,  but  it  was  actually  one  of 
his  least  extensive  journeys.  In  April,  1747,  he  journeyed 
by  way  of  Lancaster  and  York  to  the  churches  at  and  near 
Hagerstown  (Conecocheague)  and  Frederick  (Monocacy) 
in  Maryland,  a  trip  which  required  about  two  weeks.  In 
the  same  year  he  made  four  other  extensive  missionary 
journeys,  and  everywhere  he  was  most  cordially  received. 
His  most  extensive  journey  wras  made  in  1748,  when  he 
explored  the  field  in  Maryland  and  far  down  into  the 
valley  of  Virginia.  These  were  difficult  and  dangerous 
expeditions,  and  we  are  told  in  his  "  Diary  "  how  he  made 
his  way  by  rude  bridle-paths  from  one  settlement  to  another 
—  crossing  the  Susquehanna  in  a  freshet,  encountering 
"  rough  and  wild  wildernesses,"  and  at  one  time  terrified  by 
a  "fearful  rattlesnake."     Hardly  less  interesting,  though 


15°  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


DELR. 

IN    DER  AMERICAN!- 

SCHEN  *WILDNUSZ 
later  Meufclien  von  verfchiedenea 

Natiqscn  und  Religionen 

Hin  und  wieder  jierum   Wandelce 

Und  yerfchiedentlich    Angefochtene 

PREDIGER, 

Abgemahlet  und  vorgeftellet 

In  einem   Gefpraech  nut  Einem 

Politico  und   Neuaeoarmeti, 

Verfcbiedene     StucK     Infonderheifc 

Die  Nen§dtirr  betreflfende1 
Verfertiget,und  zu  Beforderung  derEht 
J    E   S  U 

SeTbft    aus     eigener     Erfahrung     an     das 

Lkht  gebracht 

Von  Georg, Michael  JVeijf  V.    D,  M. 


Zu  P&ILJDELPHTJ. 

Gedrtfckt  bey  Jttdrew.Bradfotdt^  ni$* 


German    Valley.  151 

less  laborious,  were  his  journeys  through  New  Jersey  when 
he  visited  Amwell,  Fox  Hill,  Rockaway  and  other  Ger- 
man settlements,  until  he  reached  the  borders  of  the  Dutch 
Church  at  the  upper  end  of  the  German  Valley.  If  his 
successors  in  this  region  had  manifested  a  tithe  of  his 
energy  the  Reformed  denomination  might  have  a  hundred 


REFORMED   CHURCH   IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

churches  where  now  she  has  not  one.  Everywhere  the 
people  received  him  gladly,  and  he  organized  many  con- 
gregations. He  moved  rapidly,  but  generally  succeeded 
in  accomplishing  the  work  which  he  had  been  sent  to  do. 
He  must  have  had  good  horses,  for  we  are  told  that  he 
frequently  rode  sixty  miles  in  a  single  day. 


152  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

In  accordance  with  the  instructions  which  he  had  re- 
ceived from  Holland  he  proceeded  to  organize  the  scattered 
congregations  into  regular  charges.  Of  course,  where  pas- 
tors were  already  in  the  field  he  simply  recognized  existing 
arrangements.  There  were  also  congregations  which  he 
could  not  reach,  and  the  "  lopers  "  opposed  him  bitterly; 
but  it  was  no  small  matter  that  he  succeeded  in  organizing 
forty-six  Reformed  congregations  into  sixteen  regular 
charges.  These  charges  are  thus  enumerated  in  his  re- 
port to  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  :U6 

1.  The  first  charge  is  Philadelphia  and  Germantown. 
This  has  been  served  by  myself  since  1747. 

2.  Goshenhoppen  and  Great  Swamp.  These  have  been 
served  since  1746  by  Mr.  George  Michael  Weiss. 

3.  Falkner  Swamp  and  Providence.  Here  Mr.  John 
Philip  Leydich  has  been  located  since  1748. 

4.  Skippack,  Witpen,  Indian  Creek  and  Tohickon. 
These  are  as  yet  without  a  pastor. 

5.  Lancaster  and  Schaeffer's  church.  The  first  of  these 
is  still  vacant,  and  the  second  is  served  by  Mr.  John  Bar- 
thol.  Rieger,  M.D. 

6.  Yorktown,  Kreutz  Creek,  Conewago  and  Bramutschy 
(Bermudian).  In  these  churches  Mr.  Jacob  Lischy  has 
successfully  labored  since  1749. 

7.  Tulpehocken.  Here  Mr.  Dominicus  Bartholomaeus 
has  conducted  the  sacred  service  since  1748.  He  is  gen- 
erally ill. 

8.  Weisseichenland  (White  Oak),  Mode  Creek,  Cocalico, 
and  Zeltenreich.  These  seek  a  minister  with  burning  de- 
sire. 


146  See  Fresenius'  "Pastoral  Sammlungen,"  nth  part,  p.  317.    Also  Har- 
baugh's  "Life  of  Schlatter,"  p.  203. 


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Charges.  153 

9.  Donegal,  Svvatara  and  Quitopehilla.  These  also 
implore  earnestly  for  a  minister. 

10.  Northampton  and  Southampton.  These  churches 
have  been  supplied  since  175 1  by  Du  Bois,  a  Low  Dutch 
Proponent. 

11.  Great  Lehigh,  Little  Lehigh,  Forks  of  Delaware, 
Saucon  and  Springfield. 

12.  Heidelberg,  Egypt  and  Jordan.  These  are  without 
a  regular  minister. 

13.  Magunchy,  Allemangel,  Schmaltzgass,  and  Mana- 
tawny.  These  also  long  most  earnestly  for  a  faithful 
guide. 

All  these  are  congregations  in  Pennsylvania.  To  these 
must  yet  be  added  the  congregations  in  Virginia,  Mary- 
land and  New  Jersey. 

14.  The  charge  in  Virginia  consists  of  Shenandoah, 
Misanotti,  South  Branch,  and  New  Germantown.  These 
have  for  many  years  had  no  regular  minister.  They  are 
the  most  remote  congregations  and  languish  from  longing 
for  spiritual  food. 

15.  The  congregations  in  Maryland  are  Monocacy  and 
Conagogee.  Here  also  there  is  great  hunger  for  the 
word  of  God,  and  there  is  no  one  regularly  to  provide  it 
for  them. 

16.  The  congregations  in  New  Jersey  are  Rockaway 
and  Fox  Hill.  They  implore  earnestly  that  God  may  at 
length  send  forth  a  faithful  laborer  into  this  harvest. 

The  above  list  includes  forty-six  congregations  which 
Schlatter  says  he  had  visited.  He  does  not  claim  to  have 
mentioned  all  the  churches  ;  for  he  explicitly  says  :  "  Be- 
sides these  there  are  different  others  in  Oley  and  other 
places  which  are  not  included  in  this  list."  Indeed,  it 
does  not  appear  that  Schlatter  attempted  to  enumerate  even 


i54 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


those  congregations  which  were  to  be  included  in  the  sev- 
eral charges ;  all  he  desired  to  do  was  to  indicate  these 
charges  with  sufficient  clearness.  It  is,  however,  some- 
what remarkable  that  after  so  many  years  we  are  in 
almost  every  instance  able  to  recognize  the  churches 
which  he  mentions,  though  in  several  instances  there  may 
now  be  a  question  of  priority  between  neighboring  con- 
gregations. 

Sixteen  charges  had  now  been  organized,  but  Schlatter's 
main  purpose  was  to  mould  them  into  a  harmonious  whole. 

There  had  been  much 
disagreement  between 
the  pastors  who  were 
already  in  the  field,  but 
Schlatter  succeeded  in 
bringing  Boehm,  Weiss 
and  Rieger  together  for 
the  first  time  at  a  pre- 
liminary meeting  held 
in  Philadelphia,  October 
12,  1746,  where  "  ar- 
ticles of  peace "  were 
drawn  up.  How  happy 
he  must  have  felt  when 
his  most  important  plan  proved  successful,  and,  on  the 
29th  of  September,  1747,  the  first  Coetus  convened  in  the 
old  church  in  Philadelphia  !  It  was  a  small  convention — 
consisting  of  31  delegates,  of  whom  but  four  were  minis- 
ters ;  but  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  meetings 
which  is  still  unbroken. 

The  minutes  of  the  first  Coetus  contain  a  list  of  the  del- 
egates who  were  present  at  this  meeting.  It  may  be  inter- 
esting to  reproduce  this  list,  especially  on  account  of  the 
numerous  descendants  of  these  delegates : 


SEAI,  OF  GERMANTOWN. 


First  Coetus.  155 

Members  Present. 
Philadelphia  and  Germantown : 

Michael  Schlatter,  V.  D.  Min.  et  p.  t.  Praeses. 

Daniel    Bouton,   John    Gaul,    Christopher    Meng,    and 
Paulus  Geissel. 
Falkner  Swamp,  Providence  and    Whitpain    Townships : 

John  Philip  Boehm,  V.  D.  M. 

Frederick  Reimer,  Conrad  Reibel   and  Johannes  Her- 
pel  and  Michael  Klein. 
Old  and  New  Goshenhoppen,  Great  Swamp: 

George  Michael  Weiss,  V.  D.  M. 

Christian  Schneider  and  Daniel  Hister,  Johannes  Huth 
and  Philip  Ried,  Johann  Huber  and  Nicol  Montbauer.147 
Schaeffer's  Church  and  Earltownin  Conestoga: 

John  Barthol.  Rieger,  V.  D.  M. 

Michael  Weidler,  Philip  Rank. 
Lancaster : 

Vacant. 
Tulpehocken : 

Johannes  Stein,  Valentine  Unruh. 
Skippack : 

Jacob  Arnet,  Peter  Speyker. 
Indian  Field: 

Michael  Berger,  Frederick  Zollner. 
Springfield: 

Christian  Schugg. 
Blue  Mountain  and  Egypt: 

Abraham  Wotring,  Peter  Kocher. 
L  it  tie  Lehigh  : 

Heinrich  Roth. 
Saucon,  at  HerzeVs : 

Antonius  Lerch. 


147  Probably  Mombauer. 


156  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Ybrktozvn : 

Caspar  Spengler.14S 

With  the  establishment  of  the  Coetus  the  first  part  of 
Schlatter's  mission  might  be  said  to  be  fulfilled.  In  the 
meantime  he  had,  however,  accomplished  minor  purposes 
which  must  not  be  ignored.  Within  a  few  months  of  his 
arrival  he  had  settled  the  Reiff  case,  and  had  recovered 
900  florins  (about  $360)  for  the  benefit  of  the  church.  The 
settlement  was  in  some  respects  the  cutting  of  a  Gordian 
knot,  and  was  fiercely  criticised ;  but  it  removed  an  ob- 
stacle from  his  work,  and  was  probably  the  wisest  thing 
that  could  have  been  done  under  the  circumstances.  He 
maintained  a  close  correspondence  not  only  with  Holland, 
but  with  the  Dutch  ministers  in  New  York  ;  and  sought  to 
extend  the  influence  of  the  Coetus,  though  in  the  strictest 
accordance  with  the  letter  of  his  instructions.  His  rela- 
tions to  other  denominations  were  most  amicable ;  and  his 
intimate  friendship  with  the  Reverend  H.  M.  Muhlenberg, 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  was  greatly  to  the  credit  of  both 
these  eminent  men. 

Muhlenberg  proposed  to  call  Schlatter  "  Inspector,"  but 
he  declined  the  title.  He  was  at  most  a  Visitator  Eccle- 
siarum — an  official  visitor  of  the  churches — and  he  never 
claimed  any  other  position.  In  his  relations  with  the 
churches  it  was,  however,  necessary  to  assume  a  certain 
authority,  and  this  fact  led  to  opposition  among  his  own 
people.  His  letters  were  formal,  and  he  was  apt  to  drop 
into  legal  phraseology.     Though  it  is  impossible  to  speak 


148  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  trace  the  descendants  of  many  of  these  "  ori- 
ginal "  elders  and  deacons.  Schlatter  and  Boehm  have  many  descendants. 
Rev.  J.  Spangler  Kieffer,  D.D.,  of  Hagerstown,  Md.,  is,  we  believe,  descended 
from  Caspar  Spengler,  of  York ;  Rev.  Wallace  H.  Wotring,  of  Nazareth,  Pa., 
from  Abraham  Wotring,  of  Egypt ;  and  the  present  writer  is  descended  in  the 
fifth  generation  from  Antonius  Lerch,  of  Saucon. 


Philadelphia.  157 

with  confidence  on  such  a  subject,  it  seems  as  if  a  little 
geniality  might  have  increased  his  influence. 

When  Schlatter  came  to  America,  in  1746,  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  Philadelphia  was  under  the  pastorate  of 
the  Rev.  John  Philip  Boehm.  The  latter  was,  however, 
old  and  feeble,  and  gladly  made  room  for  Schlatter,  whom 
the  people  desired  to  call.  Schlatter  accepted  the  charge, 
but  for  the  first  year  he  declined  to  accept  a  salary  "  be- 
cause he  desired  to  prove  to  them  the  sincerity  of  his  pur- 
poses"— possibly  also  because  he  was  frequently  absent  on 

missionary  journeys  and  could  not  fully  attend  to  his  work 
at  home.  When  at  last  the  congregation  presented  him 
with  a  formal  call  it  was  found  that  they  insisted  on  an 
annual  pastoral  election.  They  did  not  want  a  permanent 
pastor,  and  claimed  the  liberty  of  calling  and  discharging 
their  preachers  as  they  pleased. 

On  this  point  Schlatter  would  not  yield  and  the  result  was 
a  long  and  bitter  conflict.  The  trouble  was  increased  by 
the  arrival  on  the  29th  of  September,  1749,  °^  tne  R-ev-  John 
Conrad  Steiner149  who  allowed  himself  to  be  chosen  to  the 


149  John  Conrad  Steiner,  born  at  Winterthur,  Switzerland,  Jan.  1, 1707  ;  died, 
Philadelphia,  July  6,  1762.  He  had  been  pastor  in  Europe  of  several  congre- 
gations, and  had  published  a  large  volume  of  sermons,  entitled  "Geschrey  un 
Mitternacht."  Having  come  to  America  with  proper  credentials  from  the 
synods  of  Holland  he  was  assigned  to  the  church  of  Lancaster,  but  he  seems 
to  have  been  attracted  by  the  prospect  of  becoming  pastor  of  a  large  congre- 
gation in  Philadelphia.  He  preached  to  a  part  of  the  latter  congregation  until 
1751,  and  remained  pastor  at  Germantown  until  1756.  For  three  years  he  was 
pastor  at  Frederick,  Md.,  where  he  did  excellent  work.  In  1759  he  returned 
to  Philadelphia,  where  the  parties  had  in  the  meantime  united.  A  second 
volume  of  his  sermons  was  published  after  his  death. 


158  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

pastorate  by  the  party  opposed  to  Schlatter.  Steiner  was 
a  splendid  orator,  but  his  course  jinder  the  circumstances 
was  plainly  irregular.  Schlatter  would  not  yield,  though 
for  a  time  the  majority  was  against  him ;  but  at  last  the 
matter  was  legally  decided  in  his  favor.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  enter  into  the  particulars  of  this  conflict ;  but  it 
seems  to  have  determined  the  permanence  of  the  pastorate 
in  the  Reformed  churches. 

Schlatter  seems  to  have  been  gifted  beyond  most  of  his 
cotemporaries  with  what  may  be  called  prophetic  insight 
into  the  wants  of  the  Church  of  the  future.  In  his  early 
journeys  he  had  become  convinced  that  his  labors  would 
be  in  vain  unless  he  could  succeed  in  inducing  a  number 
of  ordained  ministers  to  come  from  Europe  to  supply  the 
vacant  fields.  Several  ministers  had,  indeed,  arrived  since 
he  began  his  work,  but  in  two  instances,  at  least,  their 
coming  had  been  accompanied  by  misfortune.  On  the 
13th  of  August,  1748,  Dominicus  Bartholomaeus  and  John 
Jacob  Hochreutiner  arrived  in  Philadelphia ;  and  though 
their  coming  awakened  great  hopes  it  proved  a  disap- 
pointment. Bartholomaeus  was  pastor  at  Tulpehocken, 
but  within  a  year  he  became  an  invalid,  and  for  many 
years  appropriations  were  made  in  his  behalf.  Hochreu- 
tiner had  been  called  to  Lancaster,  but  on  the  morning  of 
Oct.  13,  1748,  when  he  proposed  to  start  for  his  field  he 
attempted  to  unload  a  gun  which  he  had  brought  from  the 
fatherland  and  by  its  accidental  discharge  he  was  instantly 
killed.  This  was  a  great  personal  grief  to  Schlatter,  as 
the  young  man  belonged  to  a  family  of  St.  Gall  with 
which  he  was  intimately  acquainted  and  had  in  some  sense 
been  placed  under  his  personal  care.  The  sermon  which 
he  expected  to  preach  in  Lancaster  was  found  in  his 
pocket  after  his    death,  and  was  published  by  Schlatter 


The  Song  of  the  Swan.  159 

with  an  historical  introduction.     It  was  appropriately  en- 
titled "  Schwanen  Gesang." 

A  copy  of  thjs  book  in  the  Philadelphia  Library  was 
transcribed  by  Mr.  H.  S.  Dotterer,  and  was  translated  and 
published  by  the  present  writer  in  the  Reformed  Church 
Jgjiartcrly,  entitled  "The  Song  of  the  Swan." 


CpSMttCIl  Hefting 

X>t>cc 

efifr  Wtitii, 

Sfficilanb  Sbrnnirbigen  unt>  £odja,elel)Cte» 

Solemn  lacofi  IMreufttec 

23eftimmteit  ^rebigci- 

tytfamtn  SReformiertm  ©cmcinDc 

ju  llancafUr, 

Sfuf  cine  auJTerortentlicfic  SSeifc  nad)  ©CtteS  atlweifcc 

3ulatTiU3  Curd)  mien  'Ji'idifcn^c *"B  nuc  Bern  3'itliekn  hi  tag  cWige  Cebm 
Ben  14.  Cctolitc  r-748.  mi  i7|i<n  3>if)t  (VineS  2llKrt!J)iii<)erucfft  liucDc. 

5imi  Crofi  Otr  beaubun  Ganeinbc  tit  /tattca/lcr  jo  6tm  Dnicf  SeferSat 
ut»b  mic  eintr  oufcbnflr  scrfcbai 

Sttidjacf  ©latter,  V.  D.  M.  ju  St.  Gallen  mberfSdjmenJ, 

9<<j<nisd[fl<j  Ditform.  "JJrcDiiier  in  Philadelphia  unt>  Gcrmanto.m 
in  Fcnnfylvanicn. 

■  - * 

PbiUJclptu/  jittmfi  (<g  3c[|<um  3;o5in,  ouSniiffi  in  tic  Slnt-->cinffc,  wis. 

More  hopeful  and  cheering  was  the  arrival,  September 
15,  1748,  of  the  Rev.  John  Philip  Leydich,151  who  was  for 
many   years   a  faithful    and   unpretentious   laborer.     He 


161  John  Philip  Leydich,  born  April  28,  1715,  at  Girkhausen  in  Westphalia, 
where  his  father  was  pastor  ;  died  in  Montgomery  County,  Pa.,  Jan.  4,  1784. 
He  was  sent  to  America  by  the  Synod  of  South  Holland,  and  brought  with 
him  his  wife  and  two  children.  In  eastern  Pennsylvania  he  has  many  de- 
scendants. 


160  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

was  appointed  pastor  at  Falkner  Swamp  and  Providence, 
and  remained  in  that  region  to  the  end  of  his  life.  He 
was  the  first  pastor  at  Pottstown,  and  is  also  said  to  have 
founded  the  churches  at  Saltzburg  and  Upper  Milford,  in 
Lehigh  County.  In  every  respect  he  was  an  excellent 
man. 

It  was  evident  that  with  the  arrival  of  these  men — to 
whom  Steiner  must  be  added — the  necessities  of  the  Church 
had  not  been  fully  met.  More  pastors  were  absolutely 
needed,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Coetus,  Schlatter  under- 
took personally  to  present  the  necessities  of  the  American 
churches  to  their  brethren  in  Europe.  On  the  5th  of 
Feb.,  1751,  he  sailed  from  New  Castle  on  this  eventful 
journey.  It  was  in  the  dead  of  winter,  but  in  his  report 
he  has  nothing  to  say  about  the  terrors  of  the  way ;  there 
is  a  word  of  thanksgiving  with  heart  and  lips,  but  that 
is  all. 

Schlatter  was  enthusiastically  received  by  the  Classis  of 
Amsterdam  and  the  deputies  of  the  Synods  of  Holland, 
and  the  results  of  his  mission  were  marvellous.  In  one 
year  he  wrote  and  published  his  "  Appeal,"  visited  many 
conferences  in  Holland,  Germany  and  Switzerland,  and 
collected  500  Bibles  and  other  good  books,  induced  six 
young  ministers  to  accompany  him  to  America,  and  se- 
cured the  collection  of  a  large  sum  of  money  for  the  des- 
titute churches  of  Pennsylvania.  The  amount  of  money 
contributed  at  various  times  by  the  Church  of  Holland  has 
been  variously  estimated,  and  can  hardly  be  accurately  de- 
termined. Muhlenberg's  statement  m  that  "  a  sum  of  £12,- 
000  was  collected  in  Holland  and  put  at  interest  for  the  sup- 
port of  American  pastors  and  teachers"  is  now  generally 
believed   to  have  been  based  on   imperfect  information. 

1BJ  "  Hallesche  Nachrichten,"  new  ed.,  II.,  p.  57.  * 


Schlatter's  Appeal.  jfo 


GETROUW  VERHAAL 

VAN  DEN  WAKEN  TOESTANT 
DER    MEL  ST   IIERDERLOZE 

GEMEENTENS 

IN    PENSYLVANIEN 
En  aangrenfer.de  Provincial, 

VOORCESTELT     EN    OfGEOUCEN, 

met  ncang  un.ck  cm  tJpe  en  IqJlinJ, 
A   A  N 
De  H.  Eerw.  OuifMyke  S  Y  N  O  D  E  N  S 
*,      „  VAN 

NEDERLAND, 

EN   V  o  o  r  r  s 

AAN  ALLE  MILODADIGE  CHRISTENEN, 
DOOR 

MICHAEL     SCHLATTER 

FreMqnt  te  Philadelphia. 
MEtP-ENE  aanprvzende 

VOORREDE 

V  A  n  d  e 

GECOMMITTEERDE  des  CLASSfS 

Van  Am s tei. dam. 


T'  A  M  S  T  B.  L  D  A  Mt 

ByJACOBUS    LOVE  K  INCH 

BoekverkopervooraaaopdenNicuwendyk.  ,7Si. 
title  page  of  Schlatter's  "appeal."     (Contributed  by  Professor 


Hinke.) 


1 62  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Prof.  Hinke  informs  us  153  that  the  States  of  Holland  and 
West  Friesland  contributed  2,000  florins  for  five  years,  and 
that  this  gift  was  three  times  renewed.  There  were  spe- 
cial funds  under  the  control  of  the  Synodical  Deputies  and 
the  Classis  of  Amsterdam,  amounting  together  to  23,500 
florins.  It  is  also  asserted  that  special  collections  were 
taken  up  in  the  Dutch  churches,  and  how  much  Schlatter 
received  in  personal  contributions  we  have  no  present 
means  of  ascertaining.  It  is,  however,  evident  from  the 
amount  of  the  annual  subsidies,  which  were  sent  to  Amer- 
ica for  nearly  forty  years,  that  the  amount  was  not  as 
large  as  has  been  generally  supposed.151  There  can,  how- 
ever, be  no  doubt  that  the  gifts  of  the  Church  of  Holland, 
including  the  subsidies  of  the  Dutch  government,  enabled 
the  early  Reformed  pastor  in  Pennsylvania  to  persevere  in 
their  important  work. 

Schlatter  was  gifted  with  almost  prophetic  insight  into 
the  wants  of  the  Church  of  the  future.  In  all  his  labors 
he  had  a  double  purpose.  His  first  object  was  to  labor 
in  behalf  of  the  Church  ;  the  second  was  to  provide  for  the 
education  of  the  children.  In  his  "  Appeal  "  he  exclaims  : 
"  I  plead  for  the  few  ministers  who  are  now  in  this  country, 
and  for  those  who  may  yet  be  able  to  come  to  their 
brethren  and  fellow  laborers.  *  *  *  They  have  cheerfully 
set  aside  personal  gain  and  advantage  ;  they  seek  not  to 
heap  up  treasures ;  let  not  your  brotherly  love  permit 
them  to  languish  under  this  heavy  labor  for  the  want 
of  fellow  laborers  *  *  *  nor  let  them  be  compelled  to 
waste  their  precious  time  in  digging  and  plowing  the  fields 


153  "The  Pennsylvania-German,"  Oct.,  1900. 

154  The  amount  of  contributions  actually  sent  to  America,  according  to  Pro- 
fessor Hinke,  was  35,063  florins,  or  about  $14,025  in  American  money.  This, 
however,  does  not  include  the  sums  expended  in  paying  the  traveling  expenses 
of  missionaries. 


Thanks  to  Contributors.  163 


VERSCHULDIGD  DANK-ADRES 

A  A  N    D  E 
EdELeGrOOtMoGENDeHeEREnStAATC* 

van  Holland  en  West-Vriesland, 

A  A  N    D  E 

Correfponderende  Chriftelyke  St  no den,   Classen' 
en  Kerkenraden  der  Vereenigde 

PROVINTIEN, 

EN    AAN    ALLE 
Liefdadige  Weldoenders  ,  die  zich,  zeer  tederhanig,  dci 

ZOak  vaa  deGEREKORMEERDEGEMEENTENinPENSVL- 

v  an  1  en,  voor  het  meerdere  gedeeke  ui:  Hoocdo  itschc 

Emicranten  beftaandc,  hebben  aangenomen,  en  der- 

zelver  welftand,  door  hunne  zeer  Edelmoedige  en  mildc 

Liefdecaven,  helpen  bevorderen:  , 

Strekkcnde  met  een  tot  nodig  BzRicHT,hoe,tot  welke  eindcn?, 

en  met  welk  gevolg ,  de  ruime  giften  der  Edelmoedige  W  e  l- 

doenderen  befteedt  zyn,  en  wat 'er  van  den  tegen- 

woordigen  Staat  dier  Gemeenten  zy; 

Dienende_jeSens,,  om  Rekenschap  te  geven  van  het 

geen  'er  zedert  enige  jarea  in  deze  zaak  gedaan  h  ,  en 

om  deLiEFDADiCHEiD  verder  op  ce  wakkeren^ 

OPGESTELT 

OOO*.    DE 

DEPUTATEN   der  ZUID-  bn  NOORD-HOLLANDSCHE 

SYNODEN,    en    de    GECOMMITTEERDfcN    dei 

CLASSIS  vam  AMSTERDAM. 

Te     AMSTERDAM, 
By    JACOBUS     LOWERING  H, 

Eotkvcrkooper  voor  aan-opden  Nieuwendyk,  1758. 

TITLE  PAGE  OF  address  OF  thanks.     (Courtesy  of  Professor  Hiuke. ) 


\ 


164  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

which  they  desire  to  spend  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord." 

This  was  well  said,  but  it  had  been  said  before.  It  is 
only  when  we  come  to  the  second  part  of  his  "  Appeal," 
that  we  see  how  the  curtain  of  the  future  was  raised  to 
his  vision.  The  adult  members  of  the  Church  had  been 
taught  in  Europe,  and  many  had  brought  with  them  their 
Bibles  and  Liturgies,  and  might  be  supposed  to  have  re- 
tained a  part,  at  least,  of  the  instruction  which  they  had 
received  in  their  childhood.  But  what  was  to  become  of 
the  children?  "  If  there  are  no  schools,"  Schlatter  sadly 
exclaims,  "  will  not  the  children  become  like  the  pagan 
aborigines,  so  that  neither  book  nor  writing  will  be  found 
among  them?  " 

Schlatter's  enthusiasm  was  contagious ;  and  the  Rev. 
David  Thomson,  pastor  of  the  English  Church  at  Amster- 
dam, determined  to  go  to  England  to  plead  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools  among  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  was  everywhere  kindly  received.  The  king  of 
England  gave  a  personal  contribution  of  £1,000,  and  the 
Church  of  Scotland  ordered  a  collection  which  yielded 
£1,140.  The  sum  collected  was  very  large,  though  it 
seems  certain  that  it  did  not  nearly  reach  £20,000,  as 
Muhlenberg  supposed.  In  seeking  to  awaken  the  inter- 
est of  the  English  people  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania 
were,  however,  shamefully  misrepresented.  Though 
they  had  established  a  school  whenever  they  built  a 
church,  their  educational  efforts  were  entirely  ignored, 
and  the  people  of  England  were  led  to  believe  that  in 
America  the  Germans  were  fast  becoming  "  like  unto 
wood-born  savages."  Schlatter  was  afterwards  blamed  for 
these  misrepresentations  ;  but  the  fact  is  that  he  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  them. 


Pastoral  Letter.  165 


SiMtfar>Scpmecit 

tat  35m'inujten 

gcforiiirfcn  StfMgcr 

in  Vemtfotoanien/ 

on  bafigc  fdmtlidjc  nad)©Ottf$3Borr 

Hcfovmuic  Hcmeiiicn; 

SJflcin  \m  fi'irjli*  Sarlqcn, 

SBie  fcer  ©roffe  3  «  *  b  » si  tic  von  6r.  fil)rn». 
MICHAEL  SLATTER,  V.D.M. 

(in  un|(rc 

ftOC()itV  Sbvtftf.  SMKltlHlfCV 

ubci-npnimencgommiiTioti  511  tbrectRctfitmi  mit-pulff, 
m  ©nafrn  gefegnct: 

Unfi 

VCi'e  jolcbca  t>«ri  fctfyancn  ©ememen  folk  gcbiibrcnb  frP<mr»  mir&AnU 
fjgung  angenemmert/  unD  tccJit  gcbraucbtr  |4<  <um  fi?(>(  QiOfttf 

uiifc  &em>£)cil  ibrcrunflerblidjincctU'iiiiiigiuMiiOi;  imOirt. 

Sllljjemcinei-  9?ad)nd)t 

lltliluSiiliJifdl    I'C.I 

GEORG   MICH  Alii    WK1SS. 
JO  H     PHIL     I.  !•:  Y  UlC  H. 
J  AC  OH    Lli>C  II  Y. 

tji^o^o,  ©toruch  bi»  %.  tram  una e. /jwMnto  «7j:. 

pastoral  letter.     (Courtesy  of  Professor  Hiuke. ) 


1 66  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Schlatter  arrived  in  America  with  six  ministers  in  July, 
1752.  These  ministers  were  young  men.  Five  of  them 
were  graduates  of  the  University  of  Herborn  and  one  of 
Marburg.  Their  names  were  :  Philip  William  Otterbein, 
John  Jacob  Wissler,  John  Waldschmidt,  Theodore  Frank- 
enfeld,  Henry  William  Stoy  and  John  Caspar  Rubel. 
The  three  first  mentioned  came  from  Dillenberg,  in  Nassau  ; 
Frankenfeld  and  Stoy  were  natives  of  Herborn  ;  and  Rubel 
of  Wald,  in  the  duchy  of  Berg.  These  men,  though  dif- 
fering greatly  in  disposition,  became  men  of  great  influence 
in  the  American  Church.  Muhlenberg  incidentally  gives 
us  some  idea  of  their  appearance  on  their  arrival,  each  one 
carrying  a  long  staff.  He  greeted  them  most  cordially, 
and  appropriately  addressed  them  in  the  words  of  Scrip- 
ture:  "  Behold  I  send  you  forth  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of 
wolves ;  be  ye  therefore  wise  as  serpents  and  harmless  as 
doves." 

Soon  after  Schlatter's  return  the  troubles  in  the  congre- 
gation in  Philadelphia  began  anew.  Before  he  went  to 
Europe  he  had  promised  the  people  that  he  would  not  in- 
terfere with  any  arrangements  they  might  make  concern- 
ing the  pastorate ;  but  though  earlier  difficulties  had  been 
removed,  the  congregation  had  not  succeeded  in  securing 
a  regular  pastor.  Now  that  a  number  of  young  ministers 
had  arrived  they  wanted  one  of  them ;  and  after  hearing 
them  all  they  elected  Rubel.  Schlatter  was  greatly  pained 
and  with  the  assistance  of  a  company  of  his  friends  raised 
a  disturbance  which  spread  beyond  the  congregation  and 
even  led  to  a  division  in  the  Coetus,  which  fortunately  con- 
tinued but  a  single  year.  Rubel  had  already  shown  him- 
self "  rebellious,"  and  his  later  history  is  not  to  his  credit; 
but  it  must  also  be  confessed  that  the  position  of  Schlatter 
in  this  second  contest  is  not  to  be  defended.     Indeed,  we 


Shiner's  Sermons.  167 


3(116  fcem  t»crmuffrtrn  SRcformirten 

3ton  in  ^Jenfeftanfen 

Septet'  unij  Hacffei; 

tn^  Bffoiftrr* 

las  gefamft 

fttf  flrmein: 

3n  flctimJencr  IKeDc  atflefafiet 

ltnfc  aujs  Sreuem  cinfdlti^rm  £frfjm 
@c&riiftlit&  imKjet&rift  - 

(©Dtt  qc(ic  ju  Wrier  (jcilfmiicn  (fnvctfnng 
UnD  £crfk-(lunq  rtfi  3)<iMuii'tn  vSIm;.< 

£ir  Kcformiricii  5fiid)..i)' 

SDon 

•  ffolxmn  ionva£>  ©eiurr 

Slfformtrtem  ^rebigcr  in  0n-iiMnfPH. 

(Sccmflnron/Ochiifft  605  Cfyriffrpb  ©mict  »7S* 

Title  page  of  steiner'S  sermons.     (Courtesy  of  Professor  Hinke.) 


168  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

can  hardly  resist  the  conclusion  that,  with  his  superabun- 
dant energy,  he  imagined  that  he  could  do  everything  at 
once  and  do  it  well.  His  purposes  were  exalted ;  but  he 
seems  not  to  have  fully  realized  that  a  minister  must 
never  venture  to  make  his  pastorate  a  secondary  em- 
ployment. Rubel  was  called  to  New  York,  and  Schlat- 
ter was  made  to  feel  that  his  work  in  Philadelphia  was 
ended.155 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Schlatter  had  become  pro- 
foundly interested  in  the  English  movement  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools.  For  the  purpose  of  advancing  this 
movement,  and  explaining  misunderstandings  with  regard 
to  the  Coetus,  he  made  another  voyage  to  Holland,  arriving 
there  in  March,  1754.  His  reception  by  the  Deputies  ap- 
pears not  to  have  been  very  encouraging,  and  when  they 
learned  that  he  had  been  appointed  superintendent  of  the 
proposed  schools  they  not  only  granted  their  permission 
but  actually  dismissed  him  from  the  Coetus.  It  seems  to 
have  been  a  somewhat  high-handed  proceeding,  but  the 
"  Fathers  "  were  inflexible.  Schlatter  returned  to  America 
with  a  heavy  heart,  and  at  once  reported  to  the  Coetus. 
The  ministers  were  unwilling  to  see  him  leave  them,  and 
pleaded  earnestly  in  his  behalf ;  but  the  authorities  in 
Holland  insisted  that  their  commands  must  be  obeyed,  and 
the  work  of  Schlatter  in  the  Reformed  church  was  practi- 

155  After  the  withdrawal  of  Schlatter  and  Rubel  the  congregation  was 
served  for  about  a  year  by  the  Rev.  William  Stoy.  On  his  removal  the  Rev. 
J.  C.  Steiner  was  called  a  second  time  and  was  much  more  successful  than  he 
had  been  in  his  former  pastorate.  After  his  death,  in  1762,  the  church  fell 
into  the  hands  of  an  independent  minister,  the  Rev.  Frederick  Rothenbiihler, 
a  native  of  Switzerland,  who  did  not  conduct  himself  well.  When  he  was 
discharged  he  organized  an  independent  congregation,  which  built  a  church 
on  Fourth  Street,  below  New,  called  St.  George's.  As  the  congregation  was 
unable  to  pay  for  this  building  it  was  sold  in  1770  to  the  Methodists.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  the  earliest  organization  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  Phila- 
delphia. 


Charity  Schools.  169 

cally  concluded.  In  1755  he  for  the  last  time  attended  a 
meeting  of  the  Coetus. 

Schlatter  became  the  first  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools  in  Pennsylvania.  He  undertook  the  work  with 
his  usual  energy,  but  the  difficulties  which  confronted  him 
were  insuperable.  The  management  of  the  schools  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  trustees  representing  the  colonial 
gentry,  and  when  they  rode  about  in  their  coaches  to  visit 
the  schools  they  certainly  did  not  do  much  to  conciliate  the 
recipients  of  their  bounty.  The  purpose  of  the  charity 
was  admirable,  but  its  administration  had  all  the  offen- 
sive peculiarites  of  British  officialism  during  the  colonial 
period. 

The  Germans,  on  the  other  hand,  were  well  aware  of 
what  had  been  said  and  written  about  them  in  England, 
and  were  prejudiced  against  the  work  from  its  beginning. 
Their  opposition  was  increased  by  the  articles  of  Christo- 
pher Saur  in  his  influential  paper,  intimating  among  other 
things  that  the  purpose  of  the  movement  was  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  establishment  of  the  Church  of  England.  Saur 
seems  even  to  have  gone  so  far  as  to  invite  Zubly — a  Re- 
formed minister  in  South  Carolina — to  assume  the  di- 
rection of  a  rival  movement  for  the  establishment  of 
schools  on  a  purely  German  basis.  In  some  places  the 
people  held  meetings  in  which  they  expressed  their  in- 
dignation at  being  made  the  recipients  of  a  "  foreign 
charity." 

That  Schlatter  should  have  succeeded  in  establishing 
charity  schools  in  the  face  of  such  opposition,  is,  to  say  the 
least,  remarkable.  It  is  true,  however,  that  he  was  for 
some  time  earnestly  supported  by  the  Lutheran  and  Re- 
formed ministers,  and  that  the  opposition  to  the  movement 
in  these  denominations  was  much  less  decided  than  it  was 


170  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

in  the  minor  sects.  It  was  probably  in  recognition  of  this 
aid  that  according  to  the  report  of  the  trustees  for  1758 
gratuities  were  paid  to  six  Lutheran  ministers,  "  employed 
as  catechists  "  and  to  twelve  "  Calvinist  "  ministers. 

Schlatter  began  to  organize  schools  in  Feb.,  1755,  and 
in  five  months  seven  had  been  established.  These  were 
situated  at  New  Providence,  Upper  Salford,  Reading, 
Tulpehocken,  Vincent,  Chester  County,  Easton  and  Lan- 
caster. The  work  was,  therefore,  successful,  though  in 
the  face  of  much  opposition.  It  is,  however,  to  be  noted 
that  in  the  same  year  Stoy  wrote  a  letter  to  Holland,  in 
which  he  asserted  that  "  nothing  was  to  be  hoped  from  the 
charity  schools  "  ;  that  they  were  "  all  English  and  polit- 
ical," and  that  "the  trustees  were  religious  separatists." 

The  schools  gradually  increased  in  number,  though  they 
were  by  no  means  pure  charities,  as  the  communities  which 
desired  schools  were  required  to  contribute  liberally  to  their 
support.  According  to  a  report  made  by  Provost  Smith  in 
1760  schools  were  then  kept  up  at  the  following  places : 

New  Providence  in  Philadelphia  County,  50  boys. 
Upper  Dublin       "  "  "         48 

Northampton  in  Bucks  County, 60 

Lancaster  in  Lancaster  County, 65 

York  in  York  County, 66 

New  Hanover  in  Berks  (?)  County, 45 

Reading  in  Berks  County, 36 

Vincent  in  Chester  County, 45 

Presbyterian    school,  where  are  educated 

for  the   Holy  Ministry  156 25  young  men. 


1 56  \ye  are  unable  to  locate  this  Presbyterian  school.  The  date  is  too  late 
for  the  Log  College  at  Neshaminy.  Can  it  refer  to  the  academy  which  was 
founded  in  1751  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith  at  Pequea,  Lancaster  County? 


Schlatter's  Arms. 


171 


Long  before  this  time  Schlatter  had,  however,  withdrawn 
from  his  position  as  Superintendent  of  Charity  Schools. 
Unable  to  resist  the  flood  of  opposition  which  had  been 
invoked  against  him,  he  resigned  his  office  in  17565  an^ 
in  1757  became  a  chaplain  in  the  Royal  American  regi- 
ment of  infantry.  As  such  he  was  present  at  the  taking 
of  Louisbourg.     It  is  also  pretty  certain  that   he  accom- 


panied Bouquet's  expedition  to  Pittsburg.  During  the 
Revolution  he  boldly  took  the  side  of  Congress,  and  this 
rendered  him  especially  obnoxious  to  the  British,  especially 
as  he  was  still  nominally  a  chaplain  in  their  army.  His 
house  was  sacked  and  much  of  his  property  destroyed. 
The  portrait   which  is   reproduced   in  the  present  volume 


172 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


was  cut  from  its  frame  by  his  daughter  Rachel,  and  thus 
escaped  destruction. 

Schlatter  was  married  to  Maria  Henrika,  eldest  daughter 
of  Henry  Schleydorn,  who  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
members  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Philadelphia.  Schlatter 
had  nine  children,  of  whom  six  were  living  at  the  time  of 


SCHLATTER'S   HOME   ON   CHESTNUT   HILL. 

his  death.  Two  of  his  sons  served  in  the  Revolutionary 
army,  and  died  in  consequence  of  the  sufferings  then  en- 
dured.157 He  spent  his  declining  years  on  a  farm  at  Chest- 
nut Hill,  which  he  called  Svveetland.  Muhlenberg  repre- 
sents him  as  genial  and  hospitable.     He  preached  occasion- 


157  Harbaugh  gives  an  account  of  his  descendants,  as  they  were  known  at 
the  time  of  the  publication  of  his  "  Life  of  Schlatter." 


Schlatter's  Later   Years.  173 

ally,  but  took  no  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church. 
He  solemnized  a  great  man}'  marriages  ;  and  we  have  seen 
a  number  of  certificates  from  his  hands,  all  of  which  are 
sealed  with  his  coat  of  arms.  His  later  years  were  peace- 
ful ;  but  he  evidently  regarded  himself  as  a  broken  man, 
and  made  no  effort  to  regain  the  position  he  had  once 
occupied.  He  died  October  31,  1790,  and  was  buried  in 
Philadelphia  in  the  Reformed  church-yard,  which  is  now 
Franklin  Square. 

Concerning  the  charity  schools  we  may  add  that  their 
promotors  seem  to  have  lost  interest  in  them,  and  the 
11  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  the  Knowledge  of  God 
among  the  Germans "  soon  ceased  to  exist.  It  is  now 
known  that  not  only  the  interest  of  the  fund  but  a  part,  at 
least,  of  the  principal  was  expended,  and  from  extant 
records  we  conclude  that  appropriations  were  made  for 
purposes  very  different  from  the  original  intention  of  the 
charity. 

As  far  as  the  Germans  are  concerned,  Harbaugh  and 
others  are  inclined  to  praise  them  for  their  "  manliness  and 
sense  of  honor "  for  refusing  to  be  pauperized ;  but  we 
would  rather  agree  with  our  old  friend  Dr.  Seidensticker 
in  saying  :  "It  might  have  been  better  for  them  and  their 
children  if  they  had  put  their  pride  into  their  pocket  and 
gratefully  accepted  the  gifts  which  were  so  freely  offered." 

For  Schlatter's  inactive  years  we  have  no  apology  to 
offer ;  but  his  earlier  services  to  the  Church  and  State  de- 
serve to  be  gratefully  remembered.  The  hero  who  saves 
his  country  by  holding  a  pass  in  the  day  of  battle  may  fail 
to  manifest  the  wisdom  of  a  statesman  in  times  of  peace ; 
but  a  grateful  people  will  not  forget  his  deeds,  and  his 
name  will  shine  in  unfading  splendor.  Schlatter's  public 
career  hardly  lasted  more  than  a  decade  ;  but  it  teaches 


i74 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


lessons  which  the  Church  can  never  ignore.  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  his  faults  and  failures — and  they  were 
many — his  life  will  remain  a  brilliant  example  of  the  power 
of  consecrated  energy. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Early  Years  of  the  Coetus,  1747-1770. 

Rules  of   Order — Death   of    Boehm — Tempelman's  Proclamation — Emi- 
nent Ministers — Holland  Stipend. 


'W'HE  first  meeting  of 
^^  /the  Coetus,  1747, 
was  mainly  occupied  by 
the  reading  of  Schlatter's 
reports  and  the  general 
observation  of  the  field. 
At  the  next  convention, 
in  1748,  an  attempt  was 
made  to  lay  down  rules 
for  the  guidance  of  the 
ministry.  Some  of  these 
rules,  though  well  meant, 
seal  of  the  coetus.  were   not   easily  applied, 

and  were  probably  never  universally  observed.  Members 
of  one  congregation  were  not  to  be  permitted  to  receive 
communion  in  another  without  presenting  a  certificate.  No 
fees  were  to  be  accepted  for  baptisms  ;  and  if  a  minister 
administered  the  sacrament  outside  of  his  charge  he  was 
to    report    it    immediately  to    the    regular    pastor,  to    be 

(i75) 


176  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

entered  on  the  records  of  the  Church.  The  fee  for  solem- 
nizing a  marriage  was  to  be  7  shillings  and  6  pence;  and 
when  the  parties  did  not  belong  to  the  charge  of  the  offi- 
ciating minister  this  fee  was  to  be  sent  to  their  pastor. 
For  preaching  a  funeral  sermon  the  minister  was  to  be 
paid  a  fee  of  seven  shillings.  No  person  was  to  be  rec- 
ognized as  a  member  of  a  church  who  did  not  contri- 
bute annually  to  its  support. 

Boehm's  "  Kirchenordnung  "  was  read  and  adopted  and 
the  author  agreed  to  publish  it  for  the  use  of  the  Church. 

As  far  as  Coetus  was  concerned  it  was  resolved  that 
each  minister  should  present  an  annual  report ;  and  that 
but  one  delegate  elder  should  be  admitted  from  each  charge. 

The  most  important  action  of  the  Coetus  of  1748  was 
the  adoption  of  a  resolution  requiring  the  members  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  and  the  Articles  of 
the  Synod  of  Dort,  1618-19.  Rieger  refused  to  sub- 
scribe, stating  in  writing  that  he  "  felt  certain  scruples  con- 
cerning the  articles  of  the  Synod  of  Dort  on  the  subject 
of  predestination  in  sensu  Calvini,  and  desired  to  refer 
the  matter  to  the  synods  as  a  casum  conscieniice."  In  the 
accompanying  coetal  letter  it  is  said  that  Rieger  had  sub- 
sequently authorized  Schlatter  to  affix  his  name,  but  it  was 
too  late — the  document  had  already  been  forwarded. 
This  he  no  doubt  did  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the 
appearance  of  schism.  That  the  other  members  were 
sincerely  attached  to  the  decrees  of  Dort  we  do  not  doubt, 
but  it  is  to  be  noted  that  only  members  of  Coetus  were 
required  to  subscribe  to  them. 

On  this  occasion  the  letter  to  Holland  was  written  by 
John  Philip  Boehm,  who  st}des  himself  "the  earliest  bur- 
den-bearer in  all  Pennsylvania,  now  pastor  of  only  two 
recently-founded  and  still  weak  congregations."     He  con- 


Death  of  Boehm. 


177 


tinued,  however,  to  perform  missionary  labor  to  the  end  of 
his  life.  His  death  occurred  suddenly  at  the  house  of  his 
eldest  son,15S  April  29,  1749,  ^iter  he  had  on  the  previous 
day  administered  the  communion  to  the  congregation  at 
Egypt.  As  there  was  no  Reformed  minister  within  reach- 
ing distance,  the  funeral  services  were  conducted  by 
Michael  Kolb,   a   Mennonite.      A   memorial    sermon   was 


HOUSE   IN   WHICH   JOHN    PHILIP    BOEHM   DIED. 

preached  in  Germantown  on  the  succeeding  Sunday  by 
Schlatter,  who  seems  to  have  done  full  justice  to  the 
memory  of  his  eminent  predecessor. 


168  The  house  in  which  Boehtn  died  is  still  standing  in  Hellertown,  North- 
ampton County.  For  a  photograph  of  the  building  we  are  indebted  to  Mr. 
James  A.  Boehm,  who  is  a  descendant  of  John  Philip  Boehm  in  the  eighth  gen- 
eration. 


178  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

In  1749  the  Coetus  received  on  probation  John  Conrad 
Wirtz,  of  Saucon,  and  Conrad  Tempelman,  of  Swatara, 
and  requested  permission  to  ordain  them.159  It  was  a 
graceful  act,  for  both  men  were  devout  and  had  done  ex- 
cellent work.  Before  a  reply  could  be  obtained  from  Hol- 
land, Wirtz  removed  to  New  Jersey  and  was  there  ordained 
by  the  Presbyterians,  but  he  ended  his  life  in  the  Reformed 
Church  as  pastor  at  York,  Pa.  Tempelman  and  Jonathan 
Du  Bois — the  Dutch  pastor  at  Neshaminy — were,  how- 
ever, ordained  at  Lancaster  in  1752. 

Tempelman,  to  whom  we  referred  in  connection  with 
the  founding  of  the  Church  in  Lancaster  County,  was  now 
laboring  in  the  Lebanon  Valley.  He  is  known  to  have 
preached  at  Swatara  before  1748,  and  Harbaugh  says  that 
baptisms  were  recorded  by  him  in  the  church-book  at 
Jonestown  as  early  as  1745.  He  also  preached  at  Quito- 
pahilla,  Donegal  and  other  places.  A  proclamation  issued 
by  him  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  the  first  church 
at  Muehlbach,  in  175 1,  is  still  in  existence.160  The  follow- 
ing is  a  translation : 

"Glory  to  God  Alone! 

"  Grace  and  peace  from  God  the  father,  and  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  from  the  precious  Comforter,  the  Holy 
Spirit.  God  hath  had  mercy  upon  us  for  the  salvation  of 
our  souls,  and  hath  suffered  His  dearest  Son  to  come  into 
this  world  that  He  might  save  us  from  this  present  evil 
world,  according  to  the  will  of  God  our  father.  To  Him 
be  glory  for  ever  and  ever. 

"  In  the  year  of  the  blessed  birth  of  our  Lord,  Jesus 
Christ,  Anno  175 1,  the  15th  of  July. 

169Rupp's  "  History  of  Berks  and  Lebanon  Counties, "p.  444. 
]  6  0  por  a  COpy  0f  this  document  the  author  is  indebted  to  the  present  pas- 
tor, the  Rev.  Adam  J.  Bachman,  of  Schaefferstown. 


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Tcmpclmaii's  Proclamation.  179 

"  Through  the  Grace  and  Providence  of  God  and  in  ac- 
cordance  with  an  unanimous  meeting  of  the  honorable 
Evangelical  Reformed  congregation  at  Mullbach  in  the 
township  of  Heidelberg,  in  Lancaster  County  or  district, 
and  with  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Evangelical  Re- 
formed congregation,  it  hath  taken  place:  That  the  afore- 
said Evangelical  Reformed  congregation  hath  resolved,  with 
the  blessing  of  God,  to  build  a  stone  church  for  themselves 
and  their  children  and  children's  children  and  their  de- 
scendants ;  and  hath  made  the  beginning  thereunto  on  the 
aforesaid  day  by  laying  the  corner  and  foundation-stone. 
The  ground  or  place  on  which  this  church  is  erected  is  on  the 
land  of  the  respectable  George  Muller,  where,  for  himself 
and  his  heirs,  he  hath  presented  and  transferred  an  acre 
or  field  of  land  to  the  Evangelical  Reformed  and  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  congregations  for  a  church,  school  house 
and  burial  place,  and  hath  for  himself  and  heirs  renounced 
all  rights  to  the  same  to  the  aforesaid  congregations ;  the 
gift  having  been  accepted  by  the  honorable  Evangelical 
Reformed  congregation  at  Mullbach  with  sincere  pleasure 
and  heartfelt  gratitude.  This  acre  of  land  is  granted  to 
both  the  Evangelical  Reformed  and  Evangelical  Lutheran 
congregations,  and  retains  its  justice  and  equity,  as  the 
deed  or  agreement  indicates.  Forasmuch,  however,  as 
the  aforesaid  George  Muller  hath  in  his  deed  or  agreement 
inserted  the  proviso  that  if  the  Evangelical  Lutherans  should 
decline  to  assist  in  the  building  a  union  church,  and  no 
church  building  had  previously  been  erected  on  the  ground, 
the  Evangelical  Lutherans  could  have  no  right  nor  claim 
to  the  church  to  be  erected  ;  they  have  a  claim  only  to  the 
school  house  and  burial  place,  and  have  no  right  to  inter- 
fere in  any  business  which  the  Reformed  may  transact 
under  their  own  roof.     The  building  of  this  Evangelical 


180  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Reformed  stone  church  on  the  aforesaid  place  or  acre  of 
land  must  therefore  be  in  no  wise  interfered  with  nor  pre- 
vented, but  rather  enlarged  and  advanced  to  the  honor  of 
God  and  the  glory  of  His  name.161 

"The  aforesaid  Evangelical  Reformed  church  is  built  for 
the  Evangelical  Reformed  alone,  and  no  other  religion, 
whatever  name  it  may  bear,  shall  have  or  can  have  any 
right  or  share  or  pretence  to  this  church ;  and  on  the  con- 
trary it  cannot  have  the  least  claim  to  the  same  ;  wherefore 
these  two  engrossed  documents  have  been  deposited  in  the 
corner  stone  and  preserved  for  the  constant  information  of 
our  descendants. 

"  For  further  information  there  are  deposited  in  the  corner 
stone  the  Holy  Bible  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  and 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  on  which  documents  this  re- 
ligion stands  and  is  founded.  Also,  there  are  deposited  as 
symbols,  bread,  wine  and  water. 

"And  forasmuch  as  these  articles  describe  the  locality 
and  rights  of  the  church,  two  equivalent  documents  have 
been  prepared,  the  one  to  be  deposited  in  the  corner  stone 
and  the  other  preserved  among  the  records  of  the  church. 
And  this  has  been  announced  and  published  before  a 
large  and  respectable  assembly,  and  subsequently  depos- 
ited in  this  place  and  locality ;  and  the  same  has  been 
ordered  and  subscribed  by  the  present  teacher  and  the 
elders  and  deacons  of  this  Evangelical  Reformed  Church. 
The  building  committee  appointed  by  the  congregation 
for  the  erection  of  this  church  were  Adam  Stumpf,  Martin 
Heckendorn,  Jost  Hoffman,  and  Adam  Bolmann.  The 
master-mason  was  Conrad  Rattenauer. 


161  The  evident  misunderstanding  between  the  two  congregations  was  sub- 
sequently removed,  and  Muehlbach  became  at  an  early  date  a  Union  church, 
as  it  remains  to  this  day. 


John  Jacob   Wissler. 


181 


"  The  present  teacher  and  preacher  is  Conrad  Tempkl- 
man.  Present  elders  and  deacons,  Alexander  Schaeffer, 
Heinrich  Zoller,  Hans  Adam  Stumpf." 

Like  most  official  documents  of  its  times  the  above  < '  proc- 
lamation" is  somewhat  diffuse,  but  it  is  worthy  of  preser- 
vation as  casting  some  light  on 
an  otherwise  obscure  period. 
"Father  Tempelman,"  as  he 
was  affectionately  called,  sub- 
sequently became  blind,  but 
preached  occasionally  at  his 
own  house.  The  little  cottage 
in  which  he  lived,  near  Corn- 
wall, is  still  standing,  and  a 
recently  erected  chapel  in  the 
neighborhood  bears  his  name. 
He  died  about  1761,  but  the 
exact  date  appears  not  to  have 
been  discovered. 

Of  the  six  ministers  whom  Schlatter  brought  to  America 
John  Jacob  Wissler  was  the  first  to  finish  his  career.  He 
was  born  at  Dillenburg  February  23,  1727,  and  died,  near 
Allentown,  in  the  summer  of  1754,  in  his  twenty-eighth 
year.  Having  been  in  1752  assigned  to  the  Egypt  charge 
he  held  this  frontier  post  for  two  years,  and  then  died  after 
an  illness  of  two  months.  That  he  was  accurate  and  pains- 
taking is  evident  from  the  care  with  which  he  kept  the 
records  of  his  ministry.162  He  also  entered  in  the  Egypt 
church-book  certain  memoranda  which,  strictly  speaking, 


162  The  writer  is  in  possession  of  a  beautiful  manuscript  volume  of  200  pages 
written  by  him  in  Latin  while  he  was  a  student.  The  title-page  bears  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  :  Haec  Parabolarum  Explicalio  spectat  ad  me  Johannem 
Jacobum  iVisseler,  Dillenburg  d.  12tenja.nv.arii,  1747. 


182  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

belong  to  the  history  of  neighboring  congregations.  Of 
these  the  following  may  serve  as  an  example  : 

"  N.  B. — Anna  Margaret  Heilman,  on  the  22d  of  April, 
1753,  presented  to  the  congregation  at  the  Jordan  a  beau- 
tiful white  altar-cloth.  May  God  reward  this  praiseworthy, 
Christian  work  with  the  most  abundant  blessings." 

In  the  year  of  Wissler's  death  the  Coetus  made  a  gift  of 
£10  to  his  widow,  and  there  were  subsequent  appropria- 
tions to  the  same  purpose. 

Theodore  Frankenfeld  (1727-1756)  was  another  mem- 
ber of  Schlatter's  little  band  whose  life  was  brief.  He 
was  assigned  to  Frederick,  Maryland,  and  served  that 
congregation  about  three  years,  also  preaching  at  Cona- 
cocheague  (near  Clearspring)  and  at  Conewago.  As  his 
name  disappears  from  the  records  in  1756  he  probably  died 
in  that  year.  The  minutes  of  Coetus  are  at  this  point  de- 
fective and  we  are  left  in  ignorance  of  the  particulars  of 
his  decease. 

John  Waldschmidt  (1724-1786)  was  a  devout  man,  but 
was  not  regarded  as  very  energetic.  Assigned  to  the 
Muddy  Creek  charge  in  Lancaster  County,  he  never  seems 
to  have  left  that  region,  though  he  sometimes  supplied  dis- 
tant congregations.  In  1763  he  preached  at  Berne  and 
Cacusi  (Hain's  church).  The  minutes  for  1760  state  that 
the  people  are  satisfied  with  Waldschmidt's  preaching,  and 
desire  more  pastoral  visitation. 

Philip  William  Otterbein  (1726-1813)  was  even  in  these 
early  days  the  most  eminent  of  "Schlatter's  company." 
His  career  is,  however,  so  interesting  in  its  later  develop- 
ments that  we  have  made  it  the  subject  of  a  subsequent 
chapter. 

Henry  William  Stoy  (pronounced  Sto-e)  was  for  some 
years  very  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  Coetus.    He  was  born 


Sloy's  Marriage.  183 

March  14,  1726,  at  Herborn,  and  was  educated  at  the  uni- 
versity of  that  place.  When  he  arrived  in  America  he  was 
assigned  to  Tulpehocken  and  remained  pastor  there  from 
1752  to  1755  ;  then  he  was  transferred  to  Philadelphia. 
Here  it  is  said  he  might  have  done  well  enough  if  it  had 
not  been  for  his  marriage  with  Maria  Elizabeth  Maus,  "  a 
stocking  weaver's  daughter."  There  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  anything  against  the  character  of  the  girl,  but 
people  had  in  those  days  very  decided  ideas  concerning 
social  position,  and  the  church  in  Philadelphia  refused  to 
recognize  her  socially  as  their  pastor's  wife.  The  coetal 
report  for  1760  says:  "There  were  complaints  about 
Stoy's  marriage ;  but  it  was  solemnized  in  the  house  of  his 
father-in-law,  in  the  presence  of  Otterbein,  Leydich  and 
DuBois."  A  marriage  that  was  solemnized  in  the  presence 
of  three  ministers  had  certainly  an  abundance  of  official 
approval. 

Stoy  became  pastor  in  Lancaster  in  1758  and  remained 
there  until  1763.  In  his  report  for  1758  he  says  the  con- 
gregation consisted  of  one  hundred  families  ;  he  had  bap- 
tized 100  children  ;  there  were  40  cathechumens  and  60 
scholars  in  the  day-school.  The  congregation  was  evi- 
dently flourishing. 

For  several  years  Stoy  served  as  clerk  of  Coetus. 
As  the  "  Fathers"  refused  to  receive  German  communi- 
cations, and  Stoy  was  not  sufficiently  familiar  with  Dutch, 
he  wrote  long  letters  in  Latin.  In  these  letters  there  is 
a  manifest  effort  to  employ  a  Ciceronian  style,  but  the 
only  result  is  that  it  becomes  pompous  and  inflated.  The 
way  in  which  he  criticises  the  conduct  of  other  ministers 
is  absolutely  dreadful.  When  he  says  that  "most  of  the 
new  ministers  are  unreliable"  we  are  inclined  to  be  amused, 
for  he  was  probably  the  most  unreliable  of  them  all. 


184  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

In  1763  Stoy  went  to  Europe,  and  was  present  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  on  May  3  of  that 
year.  Proposing  to  study  medicine  he  was  matriculated 
at  Leyden,  but  pursued  his  studies  mostly  under  the 
direction  of  Professor  Hoffman,  of  Herborn. 

On  his  return  to  America  in  1767,  Stoy  appears  at  first 
to  have  proposed  to  devote  himself  entirely  to  his  medical 
practice.  It  has  been  generally  supposed  on  the  author- 
ity of  Harbaugh  that  he  was  for  many  years  pastor  of 
Tabor  church,  Lebanon,  but  recent  researches 163  have 
proved  this  to  be  a  mistake,  though  it  is  known  that  he 
preached  there  occasionally  by  way  of  supply.  He  became 
pastor  of  the  Host  church,  and  probably  preached  at  differ- 
ent times  in  a  somewhat  loose  and  irregular  manner  in 
churches  in  Berks  and  Lebanon  Counties.  Greatly  to  his 
surprise  the  Coetus  refused  to  recognize  him  as  a  mem- 
ber, and  he  began  to  oppose  it  bitterly.  He  wrote  to  Hol- 
land to  secure  the  influence  of  "  the  Fathers";  and  these 
requested  the  Coetus  to  reinstate  him.  For  once,  how- 
ever, the  Coetus  was  inflexible.  In  the  minutes  for  1769 
the  following  action  appears:  "Stoy  has  complained 
against  us.  We  have  not  admitted  him  to  Coetus  since 
his  return  for  three  reasons  : 

"1.  He  did  not  report  to  Coetus,  though  two  meetings 
were  held.  During  this  period  he  lived  as  a  layman  and 
conducted  a  small  business. 

"  2.  Afterwards  he  got  a  notion  to  preach  again,  and  took 
a  congregation  belonging  to  the  Tulpehocken  charge  with- 
out asking  permission. 

"  3.  He  has  slandered  Coetus,  having  said,  in  his  usual 
excited  manner,  in  the  presence  of  two  members  :  '  Die 
Prediger  in  Coetus  sind  alle  Saujbriider  und  Lotterbu- 

163  See  articles  by  Dr.  S.  P.  Heilman  and  J.  H.  Redsecker,  Ph.M. 


S toy's   Cures.  185 

ben.'1  Subsequently  he  excepted  two  or  three  whom,  he 
said,  he  still  respected.  We  can  endure  this,  for  he  is  a 
man  of  such  character  that  we  do  not  care  whether  he 
praises  or  blames  us." 

As  late  as  1773  the  Coetus  said  in  its  official  letter  to 
Holland  :  "  Stoy  cannot  be  received.  Last  year  he  pub- 
lished a  satirical  article  against  Coetus,  and  this  year  he 
sent  us  a  threatening  circular."  Evidently  he  was  no 
longer  suited  for  membership  in  an  ecclesiastical  body.164 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Stoy  had  become  celebrated 
as  a  physician.  His  cure  for  hydrophobia — which  was 
equally  applicable  to  the  bite  of  wild  animals — was  for 
many  years  accepted  as  a  specific.  The  recipe  has  been 
frequently  published  ;  and  though  the  ingredients  are,  we 
believe,  generally  regarded  by  physicians  as  entirely  inert, 
the  remedy  is  still  occasionally  applied.  Its  early  celebrity 
is  sufficiently  attested  by  the  following  extract  from  the 
account  books  of  General  Washington  : 

"  October  18,  1797.  Gave  my  servant,  Christopher,  to 
bear  his  expenses  to  a  person  at  Lebanon  in  Pennsyl- 
vania celebrated  for  curing  persons  bit  by  wild  animals, 
$25.00."  "  Stoy's  Drops"  are  also  well  remembered. 
They  are  described  as  beneficial  in  nervous  disorders. 

That  Stoy  was  a  progressive  physician  is  not  to  be 
doubted.  He  was  active  in  the  introduction  of  inoculation 
for  smallpox,  and  defended  his  course  with  word  and  pen 
in  the  face  of  much  popular  prejudice.     In  1784  he  was 


164  Stoy  appears  to  have  quarreled  with  many  people.  Dr.  Egle  published 
in  1883  two  of  his  letters,  addressed  to  Judge  Yeates,  in  one  of  which,  dated 
Lebanon,  Dec.  23,  1775,  he  formally  accused  Gen.  John  Philip  De  Haas  of  be- 
ing a  Tory.  As  De  Haas  was  soon  afterwards  commissioned  by  CongTess  a 
General  in  the  Revolutionary  army,  there  is  some  ground  for  Dr.  Egle's  sug- 
gestion that  the  trouble  was  with  Stoy  and  not  with  De  Haas. — Egle's  "  Notes 
and  Queries,"  I.,  p.  217. 


1 86  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

elected  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature.  A 
long  letter  to  Gen.  Joseph  Reed  on  "The  Present  Mode 
of  Taxation"  was  published  by  him  in  1779.  In  it  he  ad- 
vocated a  single  tax  on  land.  Though  the  general  idea 
appears  strangely  modern,  some  of  its  details  were  evi- 
dently impracticable.  The  original  manuscript  is  among 
the  Harbaugh  papers  in  Lancaster.  Stoy  died  in  Leb- 
anon, September  11,  1801,  and  was  buried  at  the  Host 
church. 

The  condition  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Pennsylvania 


ARMS   OF  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


was  in  1764  very  discouraging.     In  the  minutes  of  Coetus 
for  that  year  we  find  the  following  : 

"Lancaster,  Readingtown,  Yorktown,  Tulpehocken, 
Whitehall,  Easton — all  important  places — pray  for  pastors. 
Help  is  more  necessary  now  than  it  was  fifteen  years  ago ; 
or,  at  least,  it  is  just  as  necessary,  for  there  were  not  so 
many  '  lopers '  then  as  now,  and  a  young  generation  has 
grown  up  without  proper  training.  When  congregations 
are  advised  to  forward  traveling  expenses  for  ministers 


Vacant  Churches.  187 

from  Europe  they  call  to  mind  the  cases  of  Bartholomaeus 
and  Hochreutiner.  The  people  are  suspicious  and  suggest 
misappropriation  of  funds.  We  beg  for  five  or  six  preach- 
ers from  the  Palatinate  or  Duisburg.  If  this  cannot  be 
done  it  might  be  better  to  wind  up  the  Coetus." 

Possibly  the  darkness  was  not  as  profound  as  it  appeared  ; 
for  even  before  these  words  were  written  several  strong 
men  had  come  to  the  rescue,  to  be  followed  soon  after- 
wards by  others  who  exerted  an  important  influence  in  the 
development  of  the  church.  In  this  series  one  or  two 
must,  however,  be  included  who  failed  to  attain  to  this 
high  ideal.  John  George  Alsentz,  who  arrived  in  America 
in  1757,  was  pastor  in  Germantown  and  neighboring 
churches.  He  was  a  thoroughly  educated  man,  as  can  be 
seen  from  a  volume  of  his  manuscripts,  written  while  he 
was  a  student  at  Heidelberg,  and  now  preserved  in  Lan- 
caster. In  1761—62  he  visited  Europe,  but  on  his  return 
to  America  resumed  his  pastorate  at  Germantown,  where 
he  labored  until  his  death,  which  occurred  October  28, 
1767.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of  the 
church,  and  manifested  a  true  missionary  spirit.  In  1765 
he  reported  that,  besides  attending  to  his  charge  he  had, 
during  the  year,  visited  the  congregations,  at  Providence, 
Vincent,  Reading,  York,  Lebanon,  Swatara,Tulpehocken, 
Pequea,  Tohickon,  Oley,  and  also  Amwell  and  Bethlehem, 
in  New  Jersey. 

Casper  Michael  Stapel,  doctor  of  philosophy  and  medi- 
cine, was  a  meteor  that  was  soon  extinguished.  Dr.  Good 
informs  us  that  he  had  been  a  Lutheran  minister  in  Meck- 
lenburg, but  had  subsequently  joined  the  Reformed  Church 
and  studied  at  Herborn.  When  he  was  sent  to  America, 
in  1 761,  his  wife  refused  to  accompany  him,  and  this  fact 
may   have  been  the   cause   of    much   of    his    subsequent 


1 88  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

trouble.  The  congregation  at  Amwell,  N.  J.,  had  called 
him  before  he  sailed,  and  on  his  arrival  he  stirred  it  up  to 
some  purpose.  He  was  an  impressive  preacher,  and  had 
a  sufficiently  high  opinion  of  himself.  In  1763  he  was 
chosen  President  of  Coetus,  and  on  the  title  page  of  an 
edition  of  Lampe's  Wahrhcitsmilch,  published  by  him,  he 
was  careful  to  mention  the  fact.  He  prepared  a  church 
constitution  containing  novelties  of  which  the  Fathers  dis- 
approved, and  induced  his  members  to  sign  appeals  in  his 
behalf  to  the  church  in  Europe  to  secure  a  divorce  for  him 
from  his  "  stubborn  wife  "  who  would  not  come  to  America. 
He  began  to  practice  medicine  and  was  remarkably  suc- 
cessful, but  broke  down  morally  and  died  in  March,  1766, 
leaving  his  charge  almost  ruined. 

In  1762  Caspar  Diedrich  Weyberg  165  arrived  in  America, 
and  two  years  later  (1764)  he  was  followed  by  John  Wil- 
liam Hendel.166  These  two  men  were  pillars  of  strength 
until  the  end  of  their  lives.  Both  were  fine  preachers,  and 
devoted  much  attention  to  the  cause  of  education.  When 
they  were  respectively  pastors  in  Philadelphia  and  Lancas- 
ter, these  churches  assumed  in  a  certain  sense  a  metro- 
politan character,  and  their  pastors  by  common  consent 
became  the  leaders  of  the  church.     For  their  activity  in 

165  Caspar  Dietrich  Weyberg  was  a  native  of  Marck  and  studied  at  Duis- 
burg.  He  came  to  this  country  as  an  ordained  minister  ;  was  pastor  at  Easton, 
Pa.,  in  1763,  and  then  removed  to  Philadelphia,  serving  that  congregation  from 
1763  to  1790.  During  the  Revolution  he  was  imprisoned  for  his  devotion  to 
the  patriot  cause.  His  son,  the  Rev.  Samuel  D.  Weyberg,  foolishly  changed 
his  name  to  Whybark,  under  which  name  he  was  known  in  the  South  and 
West.  The  latter  is  said  to  have  preached  the  first  Protestant  sermon  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  in  1803,  in  Cape  Girardeau  County,  Missouri. 

166  John  William  Hendel  was  a  native  of  Durckheim  in  the  Palatinate.  He 
was  sent  to  America  by  the  Synod  of  Holland,  and  was  successively  pastor  of 
the  following  charges  :  Lancaster,  1765-69  ;  Tulpehocken,  1769-82  ;  Lancaster 
(second  time),  1782-94  ;  Philadelphia,  1794-98.  He  died  of  yellow  fever,  Sept. 
29,  1798.  His  only  son,  the  Rev.  William  Hendel,  Jr.,  D.D.,  was  an  eminent 
man  of  a  later  period. 


John  Daniel  Gros.  189 

the  founding  of  Franklin  College  in  1787,  Princeton  con- 
ferred upon  both  of  them  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity,  at  the  same  time  when  the  same  honor  was 
conferred  upon  Helmuth    and  H.  E.  Muhlenberg. 

John  Daniel  Gros  (or  Gross)  was  another  strong  man  who 
came  to  this  country  in  1764,  though  not  under  the  auspices 
of  the  synods  of  Holland.  He  was  born  in  1737  in  the 
county  of  Zweibriicken,  probably  in  the  village  of  Weben- 
heim.  He  had  intended  to  be  regularly  commissioned  by  the 
deputies,  but  when  he  arrived  in  Holland  he  found  the  ship 
ready  to  sail  and  so  came  away  without  his  papers.  The 
Coetus,  however,  strained  a  point  and  immediately  received 
him.  He  informs  us  in  the  records  of  the  Union  church 
(Neffsville,  Lehigh  County)  that  "  on  the  20th  of  Decem- 
ber he  was  called  by  the  Reformed  Coetus  to  be  teacher 
and  shepherd  of  a  charge  consisting  of  four  congregations  : 
Allentown,  and  others  in  Whitehall  Township,  commonly 
known  as  Egypt,  Schlosser's,  and  at  the  Jordan."  Here 
the  Allentown  church  is  spoken  of  as  already  existing ; 
but  it  was  hardly  more  than  a  preaching  point,  and  Gros 
is  very  properly  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  that  city. 

It  is  evident,  both  from  tradition  and  from  the  records, 
that  Gros  was  not  very  well  satisfied  with  his  first  charge. 
In  the  minutes  for  1769  we  read:  "Gros,  hitherto  in 
Whitehall,  has  received  a  call  from  Saucon  and  Spring- 
field, and  is  inclined  to  accept  it.  He  complains  of  his 
house  that  it  is  in  bad  condition,  and  there  is  no  good 
water  there.  The  latter  is  an  important  matter  for  a  min- 
ister in  this  country  who  has  only  water  to  drink,  espe- 
cially in  hot  summer  days,  when  his  health  may  easily 
be  ruined  by  drinking  unwholesome  water." 

Gros  had  supplied  Saucon  and  Springfield  at  an  earlier 


190  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

date.  This  fact  is  incidentally  mentioned  in  the  following 
interesting  item  from  the  minutes  of  1768  :  "  Two  elders 
appeared  from  Lower  Saucon  and  Springfield,  two  large 
congregations  which  had  been  spoiled  by  a  Landlaufer, 
but  have  now  been  brought  into  fairly  good  condition  by 
the  labors  of  Dominies  Henop,  Pomp,  Faber,  Gobrecht 
and  Gros.  They  requested  admission  to  Coetus  and  the 
service  of  a  regular  pastor.  The  request  was  granted  and 
they  were  recommended  to  the  Fathers  in  Holland."  In 
1772  Dr.  Gros  removed  to  New  York  and  was  until  1783 
pastor  at  Kingston.  From  1783  to  1795  he  was  pastor 
of  the  German  Reformed  church  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  during  most  of  this  time  he  also  held  a  professorship 
in  Columbia  College.  In  1795  he  published  "Natural 
Principles  of  Rectitude,"  an  important  treatise  on  moral 
philosophy.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  in  1789  by  Columbia  College.  Though 
in  his  later  years  he  rarely  attended  Coetus,  on  account  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  journey,  he  was  very  highly  regarded, 
and  several  young  men  were  sent  to  him  to  receive  a  class- 
ical education.     He  died  at  Canajoharie,  May  25,  1812. 

Nicholas  Pomp  came  to  America  in  1765.  He  was  ac- 
companied across  the  sea  by  three  other  ministers,  Fred- 
erick L.  Henop,157  John  Jacob  Zufall  and  Frederick  Julius 
Berger.  Henop  was  a  good  man,  but  Zufall  and  Berger 
were  no  credit  to  the  Church  nor  to  themselves.  Both 
were  finally  deposed. 

Nicholas  Pomp  was  an  earnest  man  and  was  regarded 
as  an  excellent  preacher.  According  to  an  imperfect  man- 
uscript autobiography,  in  possession  of  the  writer,  he  was 

167  F.  L.  Henop  was  born  in  Dillenburg  and  educated  in  Heidelberg.  In 
writing  in  the  album  of  a  friend  in  Amsterdam,  Feb.  3,  1765,  he  styles  him- 
self "in  Americam  vocatus."  Pastor  at  Faston,  1765-70;  Frederick,  Md., 
1770-84.    Accepted  a  call  to  Reading,  Pa.,  but  died  suddenly. 


Nicholas  Pomp.  191 

born  at  Manbuchel  in  Zweibriicken,  January  20,  1734, 
and  was  the  son  of  Peter  Pomp  and  his  wife  Elisa.  In 
his  childhood  he  was  almost  constantly  ill,  but  received  a 
fair  primary  education,  and  learned  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism by  heart.  He  was  a  devout  child,  and  early  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  becoming  a  minister ;  but  his  parents 
did  not  believe  him  sufficiently  vigorous,  and  he  learned 
the  trade  of  a  tailor.  He  continues:  "As  constant  sit- 
ting was  prejudicial  to  my  health  my  parents  finally  per- 
mitted me  to  devote  myself  to  study,  and  with  great  de- 
light I  began  the  study  of  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew.  In 
my  24th  year  I  went  to  the  University  of  Marburg,  in 
Hesse,  to  study  theology."  (Here  the  manuscript  is  de- 
fective.) 

"I  received  information  from  Holland  that  I  might  be 
promoted  to  the  ministry  for  service  in  America.  As  I 
was  willing  to  undertake  the  work  I  was  ordained  in 
Cassel,  and  received  an  excellent  testimonial.  The  Synod 
examined  me,  and  as  I  was  pronounced  worthy  I  received 
535  guilders  for  traveling  expenses  and  a  recommendation 
to  the  congregations  in  America.  I  was  fifteen  weeks  on 
the  ocean,  between  Holland  and  Philadelphia,  arriving  at 
the  latter  place  on  the  5th  of  December,  1765. 

"  I  began  at  once  to  serve  the  congregations  at  Falkner 
Swamp  and  Vincent.  After  I  had  been  there  seven  years 
I  married  Elizabeth  Dotterer,163  a  widow  with  six  children 
and  no  property,  but  we  lived  very  happily  together.  I 
was  not  rich,  but  we  had  as  much  as  we  needed  day  by 
day.  Together  we  had  but  one  child,  a  son  whom  I 
named  Thomas.  After  he  was  grown  up  I  myself  edu- 
cated him  for  the  ministry  as  well  as  I  could.      He  became 

168  She  was  a  daughter  of  Henry  Antes,  and  the  widow  of  Philip  Dot- 
terer. 


192  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

a  minister,  and  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  myself  and  his 
mother.169 

"  After  I  had  served  this  charge  for  18  years  I  accepted 
a  call  to  Baltimore,  in  1783.  My  resignation  was  not  will- 
ingly accepted,  and  I  went  away  with  a  heavy  heart.  In 
Baltimore  I  could  remain  only  six  years,  though  I  did  my 
best  to  build  up  the  church.  The  congregation  was  so 
greatly  divided  that  I  could  not  remain  longer,  for  the 
building  of  the  new  church  had  caused  two  parties,  and  I 
was  compelled  to  take  sides  in  the  conflict."  (The  rest 
of  the  manuscript  is  wanting.) 

From  1790  to  about  1800  Mr.  Pomp  was  pastor  at 
Indianfield  and  Tohickon,  and  subsequently  lived  with  his 
son  in  Easton.  Harbaugh  relates  that  he  supplied  several 
congregations  in  the  neighborhood,  and  that  on  one  occa- 
sion he  fell  from  his  horse  and  sustained  an  injury  which 
rendered  it  impossible  for  him  afterwards  to  ride,  either  on 
a  horse  or  in  a  carriage.  The  people  to  whom  he  had 
preached,  however,  were  so  anxious  to  hear  him  that  they 
made  arrangements  to  have  him  carried  by  four  men,  on  a 
litter,  a  distance  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  miles.  This  was 
done  several  times.170 

It  was  while  he  was  pastor  at  Falkner  Swamp  that  Mr. 
Pomp  published  a  volume  by  which  he  is  best  remem- 
bered.171    It  was  written  to  refute  Paul  Siegvolck's  book, 


169Thomas  Pomp,  born  at  Skippack,  February  4, 1773;  died  at  Easton,  Pa., 
April  22,  1852.  He  served  the  church  at  Easton  for  56  years,  and  also  preached 
at  various  times  at  Plainfield,  Dryland,  Lower  Saucon,  Upper  Mount  Bethel, 
and  other  churches.  He  was  a  man  of  admirable  character  and  was  very 
highly  esteemed. 

170  "  Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  II.,  136. 

171  "  Kurzgefasste  Priifungen  der  Lehre  des  Ewigen  Evangeliums,  Womit 
deutlich  gezeiget  wird,  dass  man  die  Wiederbringung  aller  Dinge  in  der 
Heiligen  Schrift  vergeblich  suchet.  Von  N.  Pomp,  V.  D.  M."  Philadelphia, 
Henrich  Miller,  1774. 


Po?nfi,s  Book.  193 

"Das  Ewige  Evangelium,"  which  had  been  extensively 
circulated  by  the  Universalists  of  Oley.  Considering  the 
circumstances  under  which  it  was  written,  Mr.  Pomp's 
reply  was  a  very  creditable  publication.     He  was  a   man 

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its 


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fceatlid)  gejttgctttrttfc, 

£ufi  man  bit  XV  i  c  i  c  t  b  t  i  tt  g  u  tt  g 

allcc  sDmgc  in  5er  fjetltgen  ©cftrift, 

wgeblid)  fudjet. 

Sf uf  $5tgtl>r«n  sieier  Steunbe'ium  JDrucf 
bef5r&ert 

»en 

9?.  tyomp,  V.  D.  M. 

9>  &  «  I  a  5  c  1  p  i  a, 

©e&mcft  bet)  ^>enctc^  tHillcs, 

1774. 

of  decided  talent  and  his  personal  excellence  was  fully  ap- 
preciated.    He  died  at  Easton,  Pa.,  Sept.  1,  1819. 

John  Theobald  Faber  was  another  eminent  man  of  this 
early  period.  He  was  a  native  of  Zozenheimin  the' Palat- 
inate and  studied  at  Heidelberg.  When  he  came  to 
America  in  1766  he  was  accompanied  by  John  George 
Witmer  and  probably  by  Charles  Lange.     Of  these  three 


194  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

men  Faber  was  the  only  one  whose  ministry  was  thoroughly 
successful.172  He  was  twice  pastor  at  New  Goshenhoppen 
— the  intervening  years  being  occupied  by  brief  pastorates 
in  Lancaster  and  Indianfield.  He  was  stricken  by  fatal 
illness  in  his  pulpit,  Nov.  2,  1788,  dying  soon  after  he  felt 
the  stroke.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  nearly  45  years 
later  his  son  and  successor,  John  Theobald  Faber,  Junior, 
fell  dead  while  preaching  in  the  same  pulpit. 

John  George  Witner  (1735-1779)  appears  to  have  been 
an  unfortunate  man.  He  was  pastor  at  Muddy  Creek  for 
some  years,  but  he  was  not  well  supported  and  "  suffered 
from  chronic  melancholy."  In  1772  he  became  pastor  of 
a  charge  in  what  is  now  Lehigh  County,  consisting  of  the 

172  The  original  of  the  following  letter,  addressed  by  Alsentz  to  Faber,  is  in 
possession  of  the  author  : 

Germantown,  Sept.  19,  1766. 
Reverend  and  honored  Sir  ! 

My  heart  is  full  of  thanksgiving  to  our  faithful  father  who  has  mercifully 
protected  you  with  the  pinions  of  His  grace,  because  of  your  happy  arrival  in 
our  American  vineyard.  My  soul  rejoices,  and  I  congratulate  myself  on  ac- 
count of  the  assistance  which  you  bring  us,  and  of  which  we  sorely  stand  in 
need. 

I  have  been  informed  that  you  preached  yesterday  in  Philadelphia,  and 
that  you  expect  to  visit  and  preach  for  me  next  Sunday.  I  have  therefore 
already  written  to  Bro.  Weyberg,  requesting  him  to  inform  you,  that  I  have 
announced  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  that  it  might  therefore  be 
well  to  select  a  subject  suitable  to  the  occasion  ;  fearing,  however,  that  the 
letter  may  have  miscarried,  I  venture  to  write  directly  to  yourself. 

Will  you  please  inform  me  whether  you  prefer  to  preach  in  the  morning  or 
in  the  afternoon,  so  that  I  can  make  my  arrangements  accordingly  ?  I  am 
able  to  say  in  advance  that  we  shall  have  the  largest  audience  in  the  morning, 
as  many  of  the  members  reside  at  a  great  distance  from  the  church  ;  and  as  a 
stranger  you  would,  in  my  opinion,  find  it  most  agreeable  to  preach  at  that 
service. 

I  also  beg  you  to  inform  me  whether  you  belong  to  the  Faber  family  of 
Zozenheim.  Also,  what  is  the  name  of  the  gentleman  who  accompanies 
you  ?    I  remain,  with  great  respect, 

Your  faithful  Brother, 

John  George  Alsentz. 

Plura  Coram.  I  am  very  unwell,  and  hope  you  will  therefore  excuse  the 
brevity  of  this  letter. 


Dalliker  and  Buchcr.  195 

congregations  at  Upper  Milford,  Saltzburg,  and  Chestnut 
Hill,  and  here  he  seems  to  have  labored  successfully. 

Frederick  Dalliker  (1738-1799)  was  a  native  of  Zurich. 
He  came  to  this  country  as  an  ordained  minister  in  1768; 
preached  in  New  Jersey,  and  became  in  1782  Nicholas 
Pomp's  successor  in  Falkner  Swamp.  There  he  was  very 
popular  and  successful.  An  old  man  who  personally  re- 
membered him  described  him  to  the  writer,  many  years 
ago  as  a  little,  good-humored,  red-faced  man,  with  a  shock 
of  white  hair.  As  we  have  already  remarked,  several 
ministers  were  admitted  to  Coetus  who  had  not  been  sent 
by  the  authorities  in  Holland.  John  Conrad  Bucher  was 
a  very  interesting  personage.  He  was  born  at  Schaff- 
hausen,  in  Switzerland,  June  13,  1730,  and  died  at  Leb- 
anon, Pennsylvania,  August  17,  1780.  Thoroughly  edu- 
cated for  the  ministry  at  Marburg,  Basel,  and  other 
universities,  he  had,  for  reasons  which  we  cannot  now  de- 
termine, entered  the  military  service  of  Holland.  Subse- 
quently he  came  to  America  as  an  officer  in  the  British 
colonial  service,  and  distinguished  himself  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain.  Having 
been  stationed  at  Carlisle  the  religious  necessities  of  the 
people  appealed  to  his  sympathy  and  he  began  to  preach, 
at  least  as  early  as  1763.  In  1765  he  resigned  his  com- 
mission and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
Carlisle.  In  1766  the  Coetus  requested  permission  to  or- 
dain him.  The  minutes  say:  "  His  coming  to  Carlisle 
and  several  other  congregations  was  providential.  The 
charge  is  too  poor  to  send  him  to  Holland  for  ordination — 
what  shall  we  do?"  That  the  Coetus  ordained  him,  with 
or  without  permission,  is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  the  exact 
date  is  uncertain. 


196  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

In  1768  two  calls  to  Bucher  were  presented  to  the  Coe- 
tus.  The  one  was  from  Lebanon,  Quitopahilla,  Heidel- 
berg, White  Oak  and  Rapho  ; 173  the  other  was  from  Read- 
ing. The  decision  was  left  to  his  own  judgment,  and  it  is 
known  that  he  went  to  Lebanon,  which  was  afterwards  the 
main  center  of  his  activity.  He  was  the  founder  of  many 
churches,  and  his  memory  is  held  in  affectionate  remem- 
brance. 

John  Christopher  Gobrecht  was  another  minister  who 
was  ordained  by  Coetus  without  the  consent  of  the  Synods 
of  Holland.  He  was  born  at  Angerstein,  Germany,  Oc- 
tober 11,  1733,  and  died  at  Hanover,  York  County,  Pa., 
November  6,  181 5.  In  his  youth  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
weaver,  but  was  in  no  sense  illiterate.  After  his  arrival 
in  this  county,  in  1753,  he  was  instructed  in  theology  by 
Alsentz.  In  1766  the  Coetus  requested  the  privilege  of 
ordaining  him,  representing  him  as  "  a  man  well  qualified 
for  the  ministry  who  has  been  called  to  the  pastorate  of  a 
congregation  that  had  been  almost  ruined  by  a  Land- 
lau/cr"  If  Harbaugh  is  correct  in  fixing  the  date  of  his 
ordination  at  September  28,  1766,  they  did  not  wait  for 
a  reply.  He  was  successively  pastor  at  Tohickon, 
Muddy  Creek,  and  Hanover ;  and  in  the  last-mentioned 
place  he  spent  the  concluding  27  years  of  his  minis- 
try. His  influence  in  Coetus  was  great ;  and  in  his 
person  and  character  there  was  something  patriarchal 
which  commanded  universal  respect.174  One  of  his  sons, 
the  Rev.  John  Gobrecht,  was  for  more  than  thirty  years 
pastor  of  the  Allentown  charge.     Another  son  was  chief 

173  A  small  congregation  in  Rapho  Township,  Lancaster  County,  popularly 
known  as  Gantz's  church,  now  extinct. 

174  The  writer  is  in  possession  of  Gobrecht's  copy  of  D'Outrein's  "  Gulden 
Kleinod  der  L,ehre  der  Wahrheit,"  an  extensive  commentary  on  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  which  was  his  constant  vade  mecum. 


Ordination.  197 

coiner  of  the  U.  S.  mint,  and  designed  the  beautiful 
pattern-pieces  which  are  known  by  numismatists  as  "  Go- 
brecht  dollars." 

The  Reverend  Frederick  Faehring  (1736-1779)  is  the 
only  other  minister  whom  we  shall  mention  in  this  connec- 
tion as  having  been  ordained  by  Coetus  before  1770.  He 
studied  at  Princeton,  and  was  afterwards  instructed  by 
Alsentz,  Weyberg  and  Pomp.  The  minutes  of  Coetus 
for  1769  contain  the  following  rather  laconic  statement : 
"Faehring  has  been  examined  and  ordained  pastor  of 
Germantown,  Witpen  and  Worcester.  We  are  afraid 
the  Fathers  will  not  approve,  but  it  was  a  necessary  act." 
Faehring  afterwards  became  pastor  of  the  German  Re- 
formed church  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  also  served 
several  charges  in  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church. 

The  refusal  of  the  authorities  in  Holland  to  permit  the 
American  ministers  to  confer  the  rite  of  ordination  was  a 
source  of  constant  disagreement  and  finally  led  to  separa- 
tion. In  1765  the  Coetus  formally  requested  this  privi- 
lege. "Why  should  we  not  ordain?"  they  inquired. 
"The  Presbyterians  doit  and  their  church  flourishes." 
The  Hollanders  were,  however,  unwilling  to  depart  from 
their  usual  colonial  policy ;  and  it  is  almost  comical  to  ob- 
serve how,  on  a  number  of  occasions,  the  Coetus  per- 
formed the  rite  on  its  own  responsibility  and  afterwards 
profoundly  begged  pardon  of  the  Fathers  in  Holland. 

A  constant  source  of  friction  was  the  division  of  the 
Holland  stipend.  It  came  irregularly  and  gradually  de- 
creased in  amount,  but  such  as  it  was  it  had  to  be  ap- 
portioned. The  Coetus  requested  the  Fathers  to  designate 
the  individual  recipients  of  their  bounty,  but  this  was  not 
generally  done.  It  had  therefore  to  be  divided  by  a  com- 
mittee, and  in  a  small  ecclesiastical  body  this  frequently 


198  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

led  to  dissatisfaction.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  there 
was  an  earnest  effort  to  use  the  charities  in  accordance 
with  the  best  interests  of  the  Church.  The  following  para- 
graph from  Harbaugh's  "Life  of  Schlatter" — though  it 
might  now  be  corrected  and  supplemented — may  serve  to 
give  a  general  idea  of  the  extent  of  these  benefactions  : 

"The  first  distribution  on  record  is  in  1755.  The 
amount  distributed  in  that  year  was  £418,  15s.,  6d.,  Penn- 
sylvania currency.  The  amount  varied  very  little  from 
this  up  to  the  year  1761  or  1762.  In  1757  it  was  £357, 
2s.,  iod.— in  1758,  £385,  14s. — 1759,  £395,  14s.,  7d. 
Soon  after  1760  the  amount  seems  to  grow  gradually  less  : 
no  doubt  because  the  congregations  increased,  and  many 
of  them  gradually  became  self-supporting.  In  1770  it 
was  £85,  14s.,  3d. — in  1773,  £46,  6s. — in  1778,  it  was 
450  guilders.  The  last  gift  we  find  acknowledged  is  100 
guilders,  for  the  use  of  the  congregation  in  Baltimore  in 
1791."17"' 

The  following  lists — also  taken  from  Harbaugh — show 
how  the  stipend  was  distributed  in  early  days  : 

1755- 

Ministers.  Charges.  Amount  Received. 

£.  S.  D. 

Rev.  Weiss Goshenhoppen  35   15  o 

"     Rieger Schaeffer's  church 15  000 

"     Schlatter 4S  00  o 

Remainder  of  last  year 14  00  o 

Rev.  Leydich Falkner  Swamp 35   15  o 

"     Lischy Yorktown 37   136 

"     Otterbeim Lancaster 18  00  o 

"     Stoy Tulpehocken 36   180 


176  Dr.  Good  says  the  last  donation  was  ordered  to  be  given  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Nevelling^,  an  invalid  minister,  as  late  as  1793. 


The  Stipend.  199 

£.  s.  D. 

Rev.  Frankenfeld Fredericktovvn,  Md  36  00  o 

Waldschmid Cocalico 36   10  o 

Du  Bois Northampton,  etc 21      50 

Tempelman Swatara,  etc 10     5  o 

Steiner Germantown 36  00  o 

Bartholomaeus  19     20 

Dorstius 5     80 

Travelling  Expenses  of  the  Elders 15     4  o 

Penna.  Currency 417   15  6 

!759- 

Ministers.  Charges.  Amount  Received. 

£.  s.  v. 

Rev.  Weiss Goshenhoppen  30  00  o 

Rieger Schaeffer's  church 30  00  o 

Leydich Falkner  Swamp 30  00  o 

Otterbeim Tulpehocken 37   100 

Stoy Lancaster 30  00  o 

Waldschmid Cocalico,  etc 30  00  o 

"    Du  Bois Northampton,  etc 20000 

"    Alsentz 30  00  o 

Tempelman,  emeritus 10  00  o 

Pro  alendo  Bartholomaeus 25  00  o 

Rev.  Rubel Philadelphia  15  00  o 

To  Widows: 

Widow  of  Dorstius  1      70 

"        "  Munz™ 7     7o 

To  Sciioolmasters : 

At  Lancaster 8  00  o 

"  Kreutz  Creek 3  00  o 

"  Conewago 1    10  o 

"  Readingtown 3  00  o 

"  Goshenhoppen  1    10  o 

176  Rev.  Christopher  Muntz  was  sent  to  America  in  1754,  but  died  on  the 
voyage. 


200  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

£.   s.  D. 

At  Falkner  Swamp 2  00  o 

"  Tulpehocken 4  00  o 

Expenses  to  Coetus  14  00  o 

Total  distributed 339     9  o 

Remaining  in  the  hands  of  Rev.  Leydich 56     5  7 

Total  received 395    14  7 

That  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  is  deeply 
indebted  to  the  Church  of  Holland  is  gratefully  acknowl- 
edged. For  disinterested  kindness  to  a  foreign  people, 
and  for  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  the  benevolence 
of  the  Dutch  churches  has  hardly  been  equalled  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  To  this  benevolence  the  Reformed 
Church  in  Pennsylvania  owes  its  organization,  and  it  would 
be  ungrateful  to  forget  the  aid  so  freely  extended  in  the 
dark  and  trying  hours  of  its  early  history. 

To  this  acknowledgment  we  may  perhaps  be  permitted 
to  add  the  confession  that  the  relations  with  Holland  did  not 
in  all  respects  fulfill  the  object  of  their  institution.  The  use 
of  the  Dutch  language — or  in  an  emergency,  Latin — was 
required  in  all  correspondence,  and  the  American  ministers 
complained  that  their  letters  were  not  understood.  "  It  is 
hard  to  choose,"  said  one  of  the  later  secretaries,  "be- 
tween a  language  which  you  have  forgotten  and  another 
which  you  have  never  properly  learned."  Business  was 
necessarily  transacted  at  too  great  a  distance ;  and  years 
sometimes  elapsed  before  the  American  churches  could  ob- 
tain a  final  decision  on  an  important  question.  It  is  strange 
that  during  all  these  years  after  Schlatter's  mission,  the 
Dutch  synods  never  sent  one  of  their  own  number  to 
America  to  learn  the  necessities  of  the  churches  by  personal 
observation.     It  was  a  noble  act  to  send  German  ministers 


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201 


to  America  ;  but  the  Hollanders  did  not  always  know  their 
antecedents  and  were  occasionally  deceived.  More  than 
once  the  Coetus  pointed  out  that  it  would  be  safer  and  less 
expensive  to  use  the  funds  for  the  establishment  of  a  liter- 
ary and  theological  institution  in  America  in  which  minis- 
ters might  be  trained  for  service  in  the  local  field  ;  but  for 
such  a  plan  the  Hollanders  manifested  no  sympathy.  The 
annual  stipend — so  long  as  it  was  used  to  increase  deficient 
salaries — was  not  in  every  respect  a  blessing.  As  it  was 
primarily  intended  for  Pennsylvania  the  pastors  in  New 
Jersey  complained  that  they  were  excluded.  The  people 
exaggerated  the  amounts  which  their  pastors  received  in 
this  way,  and  became  careless  with  regard  to  the  raising 
of  salaries.  It  might  have  caused  trouble  and  privation, 
but  we  think  it  would  have  been  better  if,  after  fifteen  or 
twenty  years,  the  Holland  stipend  had  been  devoted  to  some 
other  purpose  of  general  benevolence,  and  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Pennsylvania  left  to  its  unaided  resources  for 
the  support  of  its  ministry. 


A   PENNSYLVANIA   GKKMAN   CRADLE 


CHAPTER   XII. 

John  Joachim  Zubly. 

Birth  and  Parentage — Education — Pastor  in  Charleston  and  Savannah — 
Political  Services. 

VJ^R.  ZUBLY  was  in  the 
>&^/  eighteenth  century  re- 
garded as  by  far  the  most 
eminent  Reformed  minister  in 
America.  Though  he  was 
never  a  member  of  Coetus, 
his  prominence  in  Church 
and  State  induces  us  to  give  a 
somewhat  elaborate  account 
of  his  remarkable  career. 

John  Joachim  Zubly  was 
born  in  St.  Gall,  Switzerland, 
August  27,  1724.  His  father 
and  grandfather — both  named  David — were  weavers  ;  but 
it  must  be  understood  that  they  were  men  of  influence  and 
social  position.  The  family  had  been  settled  in  St.  Gall 
since,  at  least,  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  Felix  Zublin, 
the  second  of  that  name,  having  acquired  the  right  of 
citizenship  in   1543. 177     The   family  name,  it  may  be  re- 

177  For  the  above  facts  and  other  interesting  material  the  writer  is  indebted 
to  Professor  Hinke,  who  transcribed  theni  fromScherer's  Stcmmatologia  San- 
call  en  sis  and  other  manuscript  works  in  the  library  of  St.  Gall. 

(202) 


David  Zubly.  203 

marked,  was  generally  written  Zublin  or  Ziiblin,  though  it 
appears  in  many  different  forms. 

In  1732  the  City  Council  of  St.  Gall  authorized  David 
Zubly,  the  younger,  to  publish  a  weekly  paper,  generally 
known  as  Dcr  Bericht.  The  censorship  was,  however, 
extremely  strict,  and  in  1734  he  was  actually  forbidden  to 
publish  foreign  news,  and  ordered  to  insert  nothing  but 
what  belonged  to  strictly  local  matters.  The  excuse  given 
by  the  council  was  that  they  feared  to  offend  the  Catholics, 
with  whom  they  tried  to  live  on  good  terms. 

In  1736,  David  Zubly,  Junior,  emigrated  to  America, 
to  which  country  a  number  of  his  relatives  had  previously 
removed.     An  account  of  the  voyage  is  still  extant  in  a 


pamphlet  published  in  1738  by  Hans  Wernhard  Trach- 
sler.17S  In  it  the  writer  states  that  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1736,  he  left  Elgg,  a  town  in  the  canton  of  Zurich,  and  when 
he  came  to  Rotterdam  he  met  Mr.  Zubly,  of  St.  Gall,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Zuberbiihler,  of  Troguen,  Mr.  Tobler  (later  the 
father-in-law  of  J.  J.  Zubly)  and  many  others  from  Switz- 
erland. "These  formed  a  colony  of  250  persons.  They 
engaged  passage  for  5  louis  d'ors  for  each  adult.  The 
voyage  lasted  12  weeks  and  3  days.  They  suffered  very 
much,  as  they  had  no  beds  and  were  compelled  to  sleep  on 


178  Kurtz  verfasste  Reiss  Beschreibung  einesneulichaus  derin  West  Itidien 
gelegenen  Landschaft  Carolina  in  sein  Vaterland  zur'uckgekommenen  Lands- 
angehorigen,"  Zurich,  1738,  pp.  8. 


2o.j.  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

the  floor."  Most  of  the  colony  settled  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia. 

It  was  long  believed  that  John  Joachim  had  accompanied 
his  parents  to  America,  but  it  is  now  known  that  he  was 
left  in  St.  Gall,  in  charge  of  his  grandfather,  David  Zubly, 
Senior,  with  whom  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  was  de- 
posited to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  lad's  education.  Unfor- 
tunately the  grandfather  failed  in  business  two  years  later, 
so  that  this  money  was  lost,  and  young  Joachim  was  left 
without  resources.  Friends,  however,  came  to  the  rescue, 
and  he  was  well  educated  under  the  direction  of  "  the  two 
professors  of  the  city."  What  additional  advantages  he 
enjoyed  we  have  been  unable  to  learn ;  but  it  is  known 
that  he  visited  Tubingen,  and  the  family  tradition  relates 
that  he  studied  at  Halle.  He  was  very  precocious  and 
certainly  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities.  In  1743  his 
father,  writing  from  Purrysburg,  South  Carolina,  appealed 
to  the  City  Council  of  St.  Gall  to  secure  a  dispensation  for 
his  son,  so  that  he  might  be  ordained  under  age,  and  also 
pleading  for  some  pecuniary  aid  in  meeting  the  expenses 
of  the  voyage  to  America.  It  appears  that  an  appropria- 
tion was  made  for  the  latter  purpose,  but  the  ministers  of 
the  city  absolutely  refused  to  depart  from  their  usual  order 
in  conferring  the  rite  of  ordination.  The  candidate  then 
applied  to  the  church  of  Chur  (Coire),  in  which  city  he 
was  ordained  late  in  1743,  or  early  in  1744,  being  less 
than  twenty  years  old. 

Many  years  ago  the  present  writer  purchased  at  a  book- 
sale  in  Boston  a  volume  which  turned  out  to  be  Zubly's 
album.  It  is  a  marvellous  collection  of  autographs,  con- 
taining the  vota  of  nearly  one  hundred  friends,  most  of 
whom  were  eminent  in  church  or  state,  in  Europe  or 
America.     From  this  volume   alone  it  is   almost   possible 


Zubly' s  Journeys.  205 

to  follow  him  on  his  journey  to  America,  and  even  to  cor- 
rect some  dates  in  the  biography  preserved  at  St.  Gall. 

It  appears  that  Zubly  left  Switzerland  early  in  the 
spring  of  1744  and  after  journeying  leisurely  down  the 
Rhine  arrived  in  England  in  May.  In  London  he  was 
cordially  received.  J.  T.  Burckard  wrote  in  his  album, 
May  13th,  and  in  August  we  have  the  inscriptions  of  F. 
M.  Ziegenhagen,  J.  R.  Pittius,  Samuel  H.  Albing  and 
others  whose  names  are  well  known  in  the  history  of  Ger- 
man emigration.  There  is  a  word  of  greeting  from  Peter 
Brunnholtz  who  was  then  in  London  but  subsequently  be- 
came a  prominent  Lutheran  minister  in  America.  It  is 
evident  that  these  men  took  a  profound  interest  in  the 
mission  and  work  of  the  "  boy  preacher." 

Arriving  in  America  in  the  autumn  of  1744,  young 
Zubly  remained  for  some  time  in  his  father's  house  at 
Purrysburg,  serving  as  an  evangelist  thoughout  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  He  was  a  fine  preacher,  and  his 
personal  excellence  rendered  him  very  popular.  On  the 
10th  of  November,  1746,  he  was  married  to  Anna  Tobler,179 
a  daughter  of  John  Tobler,  a  native  of  Rehetobel,  a  vil- 
lage near  St.  Gall.  For  several  years  they  lived  in 
Frederica,  but  soon  removed  to  Orangeburg,  S.  C,  where 
for  some  time  Zubly  supplied  a  Lutheran  church.  He  also 
organized  "  The  German  Calvinistic  church  of  St.  John" 
and  other  Reformed  congregations. lsn  About  the  same 
time  he  began  to  preach  at  Charleston.  He  lived  at  a 
place  called  Wandoneck — the  neck  of  the  river  Wando — 
about  three  miles  from  the  town.  Here  he  labored  until 
about  1760  when  he  removed  to  Savannah.      His  congre- 


179 They  had  five  children — two  sons  and  three  daughters.      In  the  main 
line  the  family  is  believed  to  be  now  extinct. 

180Bernheim,  p.  226;  Strobels's  "  Saltzburgers, "  p.  119. 


206  The  Rejormed  Church  in  America. 

gation  at  Charleston  was  composed  of  Reformed,  Luther- 
ans and  Roman  Catholics.181 

It  may  not  have  been  easy  to  serve  a  congregation 
composed  of  such  mixed  materials,  but  Zubly  was  well 
qualified  for  the  work.  He  was  an  advanced  pietist  and 
cared  little  for  doctrine  or  denominational  distinctions. 
That  he  preached  regularly  in  three  languages — German, 
English  and  French — is  very  remarkable,  but  the  fact  is 
beyond  dispute. 

George  Whitefield  had  but  recently  established  his 
orphanage  at  Bethesda,  near  Savannah,  and  naturally  be- 
came Zubly's  patron  and  friend.  In  his  album  he  calls 
him  ex  intimo  corde,  his  "  son  in  the  Lord." 

Zubly  was  never  a  settled  pastor  in  Pennsylvania,182  but 
he  kept  in  close  touch  with  the  north.  In  1749  Lischy 
recommended  him  for  the  pastorate  of  the  church  in  Lan- 
caster. As  he  was  fond  of  writing  for  the  press,  Saur 
became  his  publisher,  and  the  latter  took  every  opportunity 
of  praising  him. 

In  1753  Zubly  visited  the  north  in  behalf  of  White- 
field's  orphanage,  and  was  enthusiastically  received.  In 
New  York  the  people  are  said  to  have  offered  to  build  him 
a  church  if  he  would  but  remain  with  them ;  and  Samuel 
Hazard  wrote  in  his  album  :  "  Come  over  to  New  York 
and  help  us  !  "  In  Philadelphia,  Muhlenberg,  Schlatter 
and  other  ministers  expressed  their  appreciation  of  his 
work.  He  visited  the  principal  Reformed  churches  in 
Pennsylvania,  but  also  delivered  a  somewhat  pointed  ad- 
dress to  the  brethren  in  Ephrata. 


181  Bernheim,  p.  179. 

is2  Mittelberger,  in  his  "  Reise  nach  Pennsylvania  "  (1750-54)  mentioned 
Zubly  as  one  of  six  Reformed  ministers  at  that  time  officiating  in  the  prov- 
ince, but  it  is  evident  that  he  was  a  visitor  and  not  a  regular  pastor. 


Correspondence.  207 

Of  course,  during  this  visit  Zubly's  acquaintance  was 
greatly  extended,  and  after  his  return  to  the  South  he 
wrote  a  number  of  letters,  of  which  three  were  until  re- 
cently in  possession  of  the  writer.  We  translate  them  on 
account  of  their  general  interest,  though  it  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  the  third  letter — which  is  historically  most  im- 
portant— is  in  a  very  imperfect  condition,  and  fails  us  at 
the  very  point  which  is  most  interesting  and  suggestive  : 133 

1. 

{To   Conrad  Wet'ser.) 

Wandoneck,  April  11,  1754. 
Very  Dear  Friend, 

At  our  meeting  I  experienced  for  you  a  sincere  affection 
which  has  not  diminished  by  my  absence ;  so  that  I  now 
take  up  my  pen  to  write  to  you  in  the  hope  of  enjoying 
the  pleasure  of  receiving  a  reply,  which  I  hope  will  be 
more  extended  than  my  letter. 

Through  the  grace  of  God  I  and  my  dear  ones  have 
safely  arrived  at  home,  and  inasmuch  as  God  gave  me 
grace  to  offer  here  and  there  a  testimony  of  the  mercy  of 
God  in  Christ,  I  silently  await  a  blessing.  It  is  my  Mas- 
ter's business  ;  He  will  keep  His  eye  upon  it  without  my 
care;  and  I  therefore  quietly  expect  his  benediction.  The 
greatest  advantage  of  my  journey  I  discover  in  the  certain 
conviction  of  my  own  insignificance. 

Enclosed  is  a  reply  to  Bro.  Jaebez  which  I  beg  you  to 
deliver. 

On  this  occasion  I  beg  you  to   inform  me  without  delay 

1.  What  are  the  chief  ordinances  (human  ordinances,  I 
mean)  of  the  community  at  Ephrata  ;  and  whether  it  is  true 

1  S3  The  second  letter  has  appeared  in  the  American  Church  History  series, 
vol.  8,  p.  299. 


2o8  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

that  they  call  their  Superintendent  the  Holiest  of  the  Holy? 

2.  Whether  they  practice  monastic  discipline,  what  is 
the  nature  of  the  punishment,  and  by  whom  it  is  ordered? 

3.  Whether  they  repeat  baptism  and  how  it  is  admin- 
istered. That  the  candidates  are  naked  is  probably  a 
calumny. 

I  pray  for  the  dear  people  of  Tulpehocken  that  they  may 
enjoy  the  sweet  and  blessed  knowledge  of  Jesus  our  Re- 
deemer.    Without  Christ  all  is  nothing. 

I  have  received  a  proposition  to  give  to  the  press  the 
discourse  which  I  delivered  at  Ephrata ;  but  as  it  has  long 
since  been  forgotten,  I  can  only  hope  that  it  may  be  im- 
pressed on  the  hearts  of  those  who  heard  it  to  their  eternal 
welfare. 

I  greet  my  dear  friends  and  all  the  Lord's  people,  and 
remain 

Your  sincere  friend, 

J.  Joachim  Zublin. 

2. 
[To  Conrad  Beissel.) 

To  Friedsam  in  Ephrata  :  Grace  and  every  blessing 
in  the  knowledge  of  ourselves  and  of  our  eternal  Mediator 
and  High  Priest ! 

I  have  been  considerably  exercised  in  mind  as  to  whether 
I  should  answer  your  recent  letter  or  not — partly  because 
I  have  enough  to  do  with  my  own  miseries  and  many  in- 
firmities ;  partly  because  I  can  readily  conclude  from  the 
spirit  which  reveals  itself  in  your  letter,  that  any  repre- 
sentation from  me  would  be  lightly  regarded — and  inas- 
much as  you  consider  yourself  much  more  highly  exalted 
than  I  am  (if  you  are  further  advanced  in  grace  than  I 
you  merely  excel  a  weak  infant)  you  will    probably  not 


Letter  to   ( 'onrad  Beissel. 


209 


consider   yourself   obliged  to   receive  an  exhortation  from 


me. 


Inasmuch,  however,  as  you  intimate  how  exalted  is  the 
order,  or  perhaps  responsibility,  into  which  you  regard 
yourself  as  having  been  placed  by  God,  I  will  tell  you 
honestly  how  you  appear  to  me.  May  the  lamb  whose 
eyes  are  like  flames  of  fire  reveal  in  thee  and  me  all  the 


CONRAD   BEISSEL. 

heights  and  depths  of  our  hearts!  "Thou  say  est,  I  am 
rich,  and  increased  with  goods,  and  knowest  not  that  thou 
art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and 
naked."  I  counsel  thee  that,  as  a  poor  sinner,  worthy  of 
hell,  thou  shouldest  go  to  the  Lord  Jesus  and  buy  of  him 
"  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich  ;  and  white 
raiment,  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed,  and  that  the  shame 


2IO 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear  [before  angels  and  men]  ; 
and  anoint  thine  eyes  with  eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest  see.'" 
It  is  indeed  pleasant  to  a  proud  nature  to  print,  to  say, 
or  to  hear :  "Thou  art  certainly  an  exalted  man  ;  thou  art 
far  advanced  in  sanctification."  When  to  this  is  added  the 
proud  self-deception  that  a  man  imagines  himself  a  priest 
for  the  atonement  of  others,  he  grows  giddy  in  spiritual 
conceit  and  becomes  boastful  beyond  measure. 

Oh,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  would  either  bring  you  down 


ONE  OF  THE   CEOISTER   BUILDINGS   AT   EPHRATA. 

gently  from  your  deceptive  exaltation,  or  else  cast  you 
down  by  His  divine  power,  so  that  personally  you  may 
sweetly  experience  the  abundant  riches  of  His  grace,  and 
that  when  you  are  weighed  in  the  balance  of  the  sanctuary 
you  may  not  be  found  wanting  ! 

"For  man  is  worth  no  more,  I  fear, 
Than  what  he  doth  to  God  appear." 

I  believe  that  in  this  letter  I  have  proved  myself  thy 
faithful  friend ;  but  will  leave  it  with  God,  in  the  hope  that 
He  may  bless  it  so  that  thou  mayest  become  sober. 

J.  Joachim  Zublin. 

January  9,  1755- 


Correspondence.  2 1 1 

3- 

(  To  Rev.  J.  Heinlzelman,  Philadelphia.) 

Wandoneck,  July  i,  1755. 
Dear  Brother  in  our  Chief  Shepherd,  Christ  ! 

Your  acceptable  letter  of  May  29  was  received  last  week. 
Part  of  its  contents  were  very  agreeable,  but  another  part 
was  of  such  a  nature  that  I  have  little  peace  of  mind. 
You  may  readily  conceive  that  I  refer  to  the  important 
proposition  which  at  the  suggestion  of  your  father-in-law 
was  also  addressed  to  me  by  Saur.  I  am  sincerely  obliged 
to  you  for  your  fraternal  confidence,  and  will  give  you  my 
present  judgment  with  equal  freedom. 

{Defect  in  the  Manuscript.) 

I  confess  beyond  all  things  that  the  matter  appears  to  me 
exceedingly  important.  If  I  conferred  with  flesh  and 
blood  the  answer  would  be  in  the  negative  ;  but  may  the 
Lord  preserve  me  so  that  I  may  never  oppose  His  will,  for 
He  has  convinced  me  that  we  can  never  be  happy  unless 
we  follow  him  with  all  our  hearts.  I  appreciate  the  diffi- 
culties which  you  note  and  many  others.  No  one  knows 
my  incapacity  more  thoroughly  than  myself.  If  the  Lord 
should  leave  me  alone  for  a  moment  it  would  appear  to  all 
men. 

The  proposition  concerning  the  acceptance  of  a  congre- 
gation in  Raritan  is  out  of  the  question,  for,  in  the  first 
place,  I  cannot  speak  a  single  drop  of  Dutch,  and  am 
much  less  able  to  serve  a  Hollandish  congregation.  Be- 
sides, the  vocantes  can  and  dare  engage  no  one  who  is  un- 
willing to  submit  to  them.  All  would  therefore  depend  on 
the  nature  of  the  instructions. 

Mr.  Saur  has  not  given  me  a  very  favorable  idea  of  the 
Trustees.     In  this  matter  I  look  to  God  alone.   *  *   * 


212  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

{Another  defect.) 

He  further  suggested  that  inasmuch  as  Sch —  (Schlatter) 
desired  a  letter  addressed  to  himself  (for  my  legitimation 
in  my  church)  I  should  undertake  a  journey  to  Coetus, 
when  we  might  orally  discuss  the  matter,  and  consider  the 
affair  in  all  its  details  ;  which  proposition  I  submit  to  the 
providence  of  God,  whether  anything  may  come  of  it  or 
not.  I  fear,  however,  these  things  will  not  be  agreeable 
to  Mr.  Schlatter,  for  I  have  not  for  a  long  time  received  a 
reply  from  him.  May  the  Lord  rule  the  whole  affair  ac- 
cording to  His  will  and  for  the  welfare  of  many  souls,  and 
prepare  me,  His  unworthy  servant,  for  all  that  may  be  be- 
fore me.      "  Do  what  thou  wilt  with  me,  etc." 

The  letter  to  Mr.  Rabenhorst  I  have  delivered.  I  saw 
him  personally  this  spring.  ^tiantum  mutatus  ab  Mo! 
He  is  now  one  of  the  four  secular  judges  of  the  commu- 
nity. O,  my  dear  brother,  how  important  it  is  that  we 
should  watch  and  pray  without  ceasing  !  By  how  many 
enemies  are  we  constantly  surrounded,  within  and  without ! 
All  this  is  a  constant  source  of  care  to  a  faithful  steward. 
I  am  still  far  from  reaching  the  goal.  I  know  what  I 
ought  to  be,  I  begin  to  feel  its  necessity,  but  unfaithfulness 
still  clings  to  my  nature. 

I  am  not  without  hope  that  the  Lord  has  begun  to  en- 
liven the  dry  bones  in  my  congregation.  O,  that  they 
might  live  !  How  painful  it  would  be  to  leave  my  congre- 
gation at  this  time  when  I  am  just  beginning  to  enjoy 
affection  and  blessing.     But  not  my  will  be  done  ! 

I  commend  your  reverence  and  all  the  brethren  to  the 
unchangeable  grace  of  our  Redeemer.     Pray  for  me  that 
I  may  know  and  fulfil  the  good  and  acceptable  will  of  God  ! 
Your  humblest  fellow-servant, 

J.  Joachim  Zublin. 


Literary  Labors.  213 

It  seems  a  pity  that  so  much  of  the  third  letter  is  lost. 
What  was  the  plan  which  Saur  proposed?  Was  it  a  move- 
ment for  the  appointment  of  Zubly  as  Schlatter's  successor 
in  the  superintendence  of  the  Charity  Schools?  Or,  was 
it  proposed  to  establish  a  literary  institution  and  place 
Zubly  at  its  head?     At  present  none  can  tell. 

It  is  pleasant  to  mention  an  instance  of  Zubly's  generosity. 
The  Rev.  J.  F.  Handschuh — Lutheran  pastor  at  German- 
town — relates  that,  in  1755,  when  his  family  was  suffering 
for  the  necessaries  of  life,  he  was  surprised  to  receive  from 
Charleston  a  gift  of  four  barrels  of  rice,  which  were  sent 
by  Zubly.    The  latter  also  sent  him  a  gold-piece  in  a  letter.184 

Zubly'  s  reputation  was  now  fully  established.  He  was 
fond  of  literature  and  had  published  a  number  of  books 
and  pamphlets.  A  devotional  book,  issued  in  1756 — 
entitled  "The  Real  Christian's  Hope  in  Death" — was 
probably  the  earliest  volume  in  the  English  language  in 
America  by  a  German  Reformed  minister.  It  must  have 
been  extensively  circulated,  for  it  appeared  in  several 
editions. 1M 

In  1770  Princeton  College  conferred  upon  Zubly  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  on  this  occasion  he  pre- 
pared a  Latin  thesis.  That  he  was  highlv  esteemed  is  cer- 
tain. The  Reverend  H.  M.  Muhlenberg,  who  visited  him 
in  1774,  says  in  his  "Journal": 

"  October  28  :  According  to  invitation  I  and  my  family 
dined  with  Rev.  Dr.  Zubly,  and  I  spent  the  afternoon  very 
pleasantly  with  him  in  his  library  and  study.  He  is  an 
experienced,  influential,  learned,  prudent  and  very  indus- 
trious man  of  a  sanguine  temperament.      He  has  a  larger 

184  "  Hallesche  Nachr.,"  new  ed.,  II.,  pp.  182  and  224. 

135  Dr.  Good  gives  a  list  of  14  publications  by  Dr.  Zubly.  Some  of  the  titles 
are,  however,  taken  from  Saur's  paper,  and  of  some  pamphlets  there  is  no  ex- 
tant copy. 


214  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

THE 

Real    Chriftians 


HOPE 
DEATH) 

OR 

An  Account  of  the  edi- 
fying Behaviour  of  feveral  Perfoas 
of  Piety  in  their  laft  Moments, 

With  a  Preface    recommendatory  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Clarke,  Re<2or  of  St.  Philips 

Ch  ARLESTOWN, 

Collected  and  publifhed 
BY 

J.  J.  ZUBLY. 

Minifter  of  the  Gofpei  in  South-Carolina. 

Behold  the.Upright,  for  the  End  of  that  Man  is  Peait* 
Pfalms.  3J,  37. 

GERMANTOWN. 

Printed    by    Christopher     Sower* 

M  DCC  LVI. 


Congress .  215 

collection  of  fine  books  than  I  have  seen  elsewhere  in 
America.  The  external  appearance  of  his  library  is  not 
surpassed  by  the  most  superior  in  German}^." 

In  Savannah  peculiar  circumstances  made  Zubly  a  civil 
as  well  as  a  religious  leader.  He  took  a  profound  interest 
in  the  political  questions  of  the  day,  and  was  active  among 
the  "  Sons  of  Liberty."  In  his  published  writings  he  de- 
nounced the  measures  of  the  British  ministry  in  unmis- 
takable language.  Discussing  the  suggestions  made  in 
England  to  arm  the  slaves  in  order  to  enforce  obedience 
to  British  rule,  he  wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Proposals  publicly  made  by  ministerial  writers  rela- 
tive to  American  domestics  have  laid  the  southern  provinces 
under  the  necessity  of  arming  themselves.  A  proposal 
to  put  it  in  the  power  of  domestics  to  cut  the  throats  of 
their  masters  can  only  serve  to  cover  the  proposers  and 
abettors  with  everlasting  infamy.  The  Americans  have 
been  called  a  rope  of  sand ;  but  blood  and  sand  will  make 
a  firm  cementation,  and  enough  American  blood  has  al- 
ready been  shed  to  cement  them  together  into  a  three-fold 
cord  not  easily  to  be  broken." 

Zubly's  election  to  membership  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress is  thus  recorded  :m 

"July,  1775.  Provincial  Congress  of  Georgia,  John 
Houston,  Archibald  Bullock,  Rev.  Dr.  Zubly,  Noble  W. 
Jones  and  Lyman  Hall  were  duly  elected  to  represent 
Georgia  in  the  Continental  Congress.  Dr.  Zubly  said  he 
was  greatly  surprised  and  could  not  accept  the  honor 
without  the  consent  of  his  congregation.  Messrs.  Noble 
VV.  Jones  and  John  Houston  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  interview  the  members  of  Dr.  Zubly's  church,  and  to 
request  their  permission  that  he  absent  himself  from  his 

186  Jones's  "  History  of  Georgia,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  188-189. 


216  The  Refoi'med  Church  in  America. 

charge  for  a  season  in  order  that  he  might  perform  the  im- 
portant duties  devolved  upon  him  by  this  congress.  Four 
days  afterwards  those  gentleman  reported  that  they  had 
conferred  with  the  congregation  and  the  members  ex- 
pressed a  willingness  to  spare  their  minister  for  a  time  for 
a  good  of  the  common  cause.  Dr.  Zubly,  thereupon,  de- 
clared his  acceptance  of  the  appointment,  and  thanked  the 
Congress  for  this  mark  of  honor  and  confidence."  "  Dr. 
Zubly  was  selected  to  prepare  a  petition  to  the  King  upon 
the  present  unhappy  situation  of  affairs,  and  was  also  ap- 
pointed chairman  of  a  committee  to  address  a  letter  to  the 
president  of  the  Continental  Congress  acquainting  him  fully 
with  the  proceedings  of  this  Congress.  He  was  also  made 
chairman  to  frame  an  address  to  be  presented  by  Congress 
to  Governor  Wright." 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  Zubly  appears  at  this  time  to 
have  had  no  idea  of  a  possible  separation  from  the  mother 
country.  He  went  to  Congress  in  the  hope  of  aiding  in 
the  settlement  of  existing  difficulties.  He  was  willing  to 
contend  with  a  tyrannical  ministry,  but  not  to  renounce  his 
allegiance  to  his  King.  He  had  declared  in  print :  "  I  do 
not  regard  independence  as  a  remedy  for  our  troubles,  but 
rather  as  a  new  and  dangerous  disease."  From  this  point 
of  view  his  course  in  Congress  was  perfectly  consistent.  Nat- 
urally he  became  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  radical  party,  and 
it  was  determined  to  destroy  his  influence.  Judge  Samuel 
Chase  arose  in  Congress  and  denounced  him  for  corre- 
sponding  with  the  Colonial  governor  of  Georgia,  Sir  James 
Wright — as  though  that  had  not  been  practically  the  very 
thing  which  his  constituents  had  directed  him  to  do. 
Charges  of  disloyalty  were  made  against  him,  and  in  the 
excitement  of  the  hour  he  determined  to  return  to  Georgia, 
to  defend  himself  to  his  constituents.     It  was  an  imprudent 


3 


UJ 


Zublys  Law  of  Liberty.  217 

THE    LAW    OF    LIBERTY. 

A      SERMON 

O  N 
AMERICAN    AFFAIRS, 

PREACHED 

At    the   Opening    of    the     PROVINCIAL 
CONGRESS   of   GEORGIA. 

ADDRESSED 

TO    THE    RIGHT   HONOURABLE 

The    EARL    of    D  ART  MOUTH. 


WITH  AN   APPENDIX, 

CIVIKC    A     CONCISE     ACCOUNT    OF    THE    STRUCCLES    OF 
SwiiSERLAN^     To    RECOVER    THEIR    LlBIRTY, 


By   JOHN    J.    Z  U  B  L  Y,    D.  D. 

Epmkaim    fh-ll  not  envy  Juuah, 
An  J  Jcuah  (hall  not  vex  Iiphraim.      Ij  a.  xi.  ij 


PHILADELPHIA    PRINTED, 

JS      .     D 

London   Rc-printcd  for  J.  Almow,    oppofitc  Burlington 
Jloufc,  111  Piccadilly. 

MuCCL.XX  V. 

(Coiirtesj  of  Professor  Hinke.) 


2i8  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

course,  as  it  was  construed  into  a  confession  of  guilt. 
When  he  arrived  at  home  he  found  that  the  trend  of 
popular  sentiment  had  changed  and  he  was  practically 
left  without  supporters.  He  became  that  most  unfortunate 
of  men — a  politician  who  in  times  of  great  popular  con- 
vulsion attempts  to  take  a  middle  course. 

Zubly  was  treated  very  badly,  and  that  by  both  parties. 
It  is  said  that  in  1777  he  was  banished  from  Savannah 
with  the  loss  of  one-third  of  his  property ;  and  that  when 
the  British  took  the  town  the  work  of  spoliation  was  con- 
tinued by  soldiers  who  knew  no  more  than  that  he  had 
been  a  "  rebel"  leader. 

At  last  there  came  a  period  of  reaction,  and  it  was  felt 
that  Zubly  had  been  treated  with  unnecessary  severity.  His 
congregation  sought  him  out  and  he  was  brought  back 
to  his  former  charge  in  Savannah.  For  several  years  he 
attended  to  his  pastoral  duties,  but  it  may  well  be  sup- 
posed that  he  knew  himself  to  be  a  broken  man.  He  died 
August  21,  1781.  As  is  usual  in  such  instances  his  ser- 
vices were  best  appreciated  after  he  had  passed  away,  and 
two  prominent  streets  in  Savannah — Joachim  and  Zubly 
— were  named  in  his  honor.  A  suburb  of  the  city  is  said 
to  be  still  known  as  St.  Gall,  in  commemoration  of  his 
birthplace. 

If  Zubly  had  remained  in  Congress  a  few  months  longer 
he  would  no  doubt  have  become  a  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  and  as  such  he  would  have  been 
highly  esteemed,  especially  as  representing  the  German 
element  in  that  great  convention.  As  it  is  he  is  practically 
forgotten,  and  recent  investigators  have  found  it  no  easy 
task  to  bring  together  the  facts  that  mark  his  history. 

That  Zubly  was  devout  and  eloquent  will  not  be  denied, 
and  in  his  own  way  he  was  no  doubt  a  faithful  laborer  in 


A  Brilliant  Failure. 


219 


the  Church  ;  but  he  dissipated  his  strength  in  many  under- 
takings, and  utterly  failed  to  recognize  the  necessity  of 
general  organization.  Not  one  of  the  congregations 
which  he  founded  is  now  in  connection  with  the  Reformed 
Church ;  and  indeed,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  they  are 
no  longer  in  existence.  Recognizing  the  fact  that  he  was 
in  many  respects  the  most  eminent  German  Reformed 
minister  of  the  Colonial  period,  we  are,  therefore,  reluc- 
tantly forced  to  the  conclusion  that  his  career — in  the 
Church  no  less  than  in  the  State — can  hardly  be  accounted 
more  than  a  brilliant  failure. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
Some  Independent  Ministers. 

Reasons  for  Independence — In  the  Mohawk  Vallc3' — Pennsylvania  Inde- 
pendents— Theus  and  the  Weberites— Corpus  Evangelicum. 


V 


HAT  there  were  German  Re- 
formed ministers  in  America 
who  were  not  members  of  Coetus 
has  been  frequently  intimated  in  the 
preceding  pages.  We  may,  how- 
ever, have  failed  to  create  the  im- 
pression that  they  actually  occupied 
the  greater  part  of  the  territory  of 
the  Church  ;  and  it  is  therefore  nec- 
essary to  remind  the  reader  that  in 
almost  all  the  British  colonies — not 
even  excluding  New  England — there  were  German  settle- 
ments which  desired  religious  instruction.  That  the  Coetus 
was  unable  to  supply  their  necessities  goes  without  saying, 
and  they  became  the  natural  prey  of  the  "  lopers."  Of 
most  of  these  wanderers — whose  only  credentials  were  a 
black  coat — it  may  be  well  to  say  as  little  as  possible  ;  and 
the  fact  that  the  names  of  many  of  them  are  forgotten  is 
not  greatly  to  be  regretted. 

It  would,  however,  be  an  error  to  include  all  inde- 
pendent ministers  in  this  disreputable  class.  Some  were 
no  doubt  good  men  who  absented  themselves  from  Coetus 

(  220) 


A'ezu    York   Churches.  ii\ 

on  account  of  the  remoteness  of  their  residence.  Others, 
whose  scholastic  training  had  been  defective,  were  ex- 
cluded by  the  stern  decree  of  the  synods  of  Holland, 
though  they  may  have  done  excellent  work  in  their  imme- 
diate held. 

From  our  point  of  view  almost  all  the  German  Re- 
formed ministers  of  the  province  of  New  York  may  be 
regarded  as  independent,  though  some  of  them  were  at 
times  loosely  connected  with  the  Dutch  Coetus.  No 
doubt  the  Dutch  Coetus  might  have  gathered  them  all,  but 
it  was  not  an  energetic  body  and  seems  to  have  put  forth 
no  efforts  in  this  direction. 

In  1758  the  Rev.  Abraham  Rosenkrantz  founded  the 
German  Reformed  church  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
This  was  done  with  the  full  approval  of  the  Dutch  min- 
isters, but  for  many  years  the  church  and  its  pastor  were 
practically  independent.  Rosenkrantz  is  described  as  a 
man  of  considerable  ability  and  force  of  character.  He 
was  married  to  a  sister  of  General  Herkimer,  "  the  hero  of 
Oriskany."  He  left  New  York  about  1760,  and  after  this, 
says  Benton,  "  his  field  was  the  whole  Mohawk  valley."187 
He  died  at  Little  Falls  in  1794.  His  successor,  the  Rev. 
John  P.  Spinner  (1768-1848)  was  a  native  of  Germany, 
but  became  fully  identified  with  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church.  He  was  the  father  of  General  Francis  E. 
Spinner,  who  was  for  many  years  treasurer  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Reverend  John  Michael  Kern,  a  native  of  Mann- 
heim, in  Germany,  must  be  numbered  with  the  Inde- 
pendents, at  least  during  a  part  of  his  career.  He  was 
sent  in  1763  by  the  Consistory  of  Heidelberg  to  take  charge 


ls:  "  History  of  Herkimer  County,"  p.  356. 


222  The  Reformed  Church  in  Amei-ica. 

of  the  German  church  on  Nassau  street,  New  York.188 
Identifying  himself  with  the  Dutch  Church  he  soon  became 
a  leader  of  the  Amsterdam,  or  foreign,  party,  as  opposed 
to  those  desirous  of  home  government  in  the  administration 
of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  In  1772  he  removed  to  Mont- 
gomery, N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  until  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  bore  the  reputation 
of  being  a  man  of  extraordinary  learning.  He  was  an 
enthusiastic  Loyalist,  and  his  congregation  maintaining 
opposite  political  principles,  he  resigned  his  charge,  went 
to  Halifax,  and  remained  there  until  peace  was  declared. 
In  1788  he  returned  and  located  in  Rockhill  Township, 
Bucks  County,  Pa.,  where  he  died,  March  22  of  the  same 
year.  He  was  buried  at  Indianfield,  and  members  of  that 
congregation  have  recently  erected  a  modest  memorial  to 
his  memory. 

John  Jacob  Wack  belongs  to  a  somewhat  later  period, 
but  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection  as  the  last  of  the 
distinctively  German  pastors  of  the  Mohawk  valley.  He 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  June  14,  1774,  an(^  died  at 
Ephratah,  N.  Y.,  May  26,  185 1.  He  studied  under  his 
brother,  Caspar  Wack,  from  whom,  however,  he  differed 
oreatly  in  general  disposition.  Having  for  several  years 
preached  in  New  Jersey,  he  served  for  some  time  as 
an  army  chaplain,  and  in  1803  became  pastor  at  Fort 
Plain  and  Stone  Arabia.  He  was  physically  and  men- 
tally a  strong  man,  and  Corwin  tells  us  that  "he  re- 
sembled a  bishop  in  his  diocese  more  than  an  ordinary 
country  pastor."  He  was  in  1816  suspended  on  the  ground 
of  intemperance,  but  his  congregation  refused  to  recog- 
nize the  decree  and  became  independent.      It  is   known, 


18!i  Lossing's  "Historical  Record,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  23. 


Pennsylvania  Independents.  223 

however,  that  they  regarded  themselves  as  in  some  way 
subordinate  to  the  German  Coetus. 

In  Pennsylvania  there  was  among  the  Independents  no 
man  of  commanding  influence,  unless  such  distinction 
should  be  awarded  to  Stoy. 

Frederick  Casimir  Miller  is  described  as  a  vigorous 
opponent  of  Schlatter.  He  had  been  a  schoolmaster  at 
Goshenhoppen,  but  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  Weiss 
from  New  York  was  preaching  to  a  part  of  the  congrega- 
tion. In  1753  he  applied  for  membership  in  the  Coetus, 
but  was  rejected  on  the  ground  of  an  offensive  life.  He 
seems,  however,  in  later  years  to  have  avoided  scandal, 
and  became  the  founder  of  many  churches. 

Philip  Jacob  Michael  (1716-1772)  was  originally  a 
weaver — some  say  a  mason — but  began  to  preach  in  eastern 
Berks  County  as  early  as  1750.  In  1764  he  applied  to 
Coetus  for  ordination,  and  was  favorably  recommended  to 
the  Fathers  in  Holland.  The  testimonial  declares  that  he 
had  faithfully  served  his  congregations  for  fourteen  years 
and  was  no  "landloper."  At  this  time  he  served  twelve 
congregations.  The  Hollanders,  however,  refused  the  re- 
quest, unless  Michael  would  come  to  Holland  to  receive 
the  rite,  which  was  out  of  the  question.  The  minutes  of 
Coetus  for  1765  say:  "We  will  say  no  more  about 
Michael,  as  the  Dutch  Church  does  not  desire  him  to  be 
received.  He  is  an  old  man,  and  his  congregations  are 
satisfied  with  him  without  ordination." 

Pithan  or  Bitthahn  was  an  itinerant  whose  course 
may  be  traced  from  Pennsylvania  to  North  Carolina.  He 
had  been  a  minister  in  the  Palatinate,  and  was  a  man  of 
some  learning.  The  minutes  of  Coetus  for  1769  say 
rather  suggestively  :  "  Pithan  has  been  permitted  to  supply 
Easton.     If  he  had  been  unworthy  he  would  have  taken  a 


224  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

charge  without  asking  us."  Unfortunately  his  moral  weak- 
ness prevented  him  from  remaining  very  long,  and  in  time 
he  became  a  wanderer. 

Eyerman,  who  was  pastor  at  Saucon  and  Springfield, 
derived  some  notoriety  from  the  fact  that  he  was  badly 
mixed  up  in  the  Fries  Rebellion.  The  published  accounts 
of  the  succeeding  trials  for  treason  give  us  a  good  idea 
of  his  peculiar  disposition. 

Ulrich  Heininger  has  not  hitherto  been  mentioned  by 
historians.  He  preached  in  the  neighborhood  of  Landis- 
burg,  Perry  County,  from  1789  to  1802,  and  possibly 
longer.     Tradition  represents  him  as  a  worthy  man. 

To  attempt  to  enumerate  the  independent  Reformed 
preachers  of  Pennsylvania  would  be  to  furnish  a  some- 
what dreary  catalogue.  The  materials  for  further  investi- 
gation are,  however,  easily  accessible.  We  may  possibly 
incidentally  refer  to  some  of  them  hereafter. 

South  of  the  Potomac  the  Independents  were  at  one  time 
in  possession  of  the  whole  field.  There  were,  of  course, 
some  good  pastors ;  but  the  churches  were  in  general  neg- 
lected, and  many  of  them  were  lost  to  the  denomination. 

The  Reverend  Christian  Theus,  of  South  Carolina,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  an  interesting  character,  but  little  is 
known  of  his  personal  history.  He  was  a  native  of  Switz- 
erland, and  had  a  brother  in  Charleston  who  was  an  emi- 
nent artist.  That  he  was  related  to  the  Deiss,  or  Tice, 
family  of  Pennsylvania,  is  an  old  tradition.  He  preached 
near  Columbia  for  50  years  at  least,  until  1789  or  later. 
Bernheim  relates  how  he  came  into  collision  with  the 
fanatical  sect  known  as  the  Weberites ls9  and  barely  escaped 
with  his  life. 


189  A  mystical  sect  founded  by  Jacob  Weber,  a  Swiss,  before  1760.  They 
declared  themselves  to  be  incarnations  of  the  deity,  or  of  persons  mentioned 
in  the  Scriptures.    Weber,  who  declared  himself  to  be  God,  killed  a  man  whom 


Union  Movement .  225 

In  1787  Theus  and  another  Reformed  minister,  named 
Carl  Froelich,  joined  with  three  Lutheran  ministers  in  an 
attempt  to  unite  the  German  churches  of  South  Carolina. 
This  union  received  the  double  Latin  name  of  Corpus 
Evangel i cum  and  Unto  Ecclcsiasiica.  It  was  expressly 
provided  that  there  should  be  no  change  of  confession, 
but  that  such  liturgies  and  catechisms  should  be  used  as 
the  majority  of  each  united  congregation  might  prefer. 
As  the  Reformed  were  generally  in  the  minority  the 
result  might  easily  have  been  expected.  The  chief  in- 
terest in  this  movement  is  found  in  the  fact  that  it  antici- 
pated the  Prussian  church  union  of  1817  in  some  of  its 
most  important  particulars. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Theus  a  wealthy  family,  named 
Geiger,19u  erected  a  monument  over  his  grave.  The  con- 
gregations which  he  had  served  lingered  some  thirty  or  forty 
years,  but  their  independent  preachers  are  hardly  known 
even  by  name.  In  the  far  South — as  in  many  other  re- 
gions— the  failure  of  the  work  of  the  Reformed  Church  was 
due  to  a  lack  of  faithful  pastors. 


he  called  Satan,  and  was  executed  for  the  crime.  Muhlenberg  says  :  "The 
English  inhabitants  scoffed  about  it,  and  said  the  Germans  had  nothing  to  fear, 
their  Devil  having  been  killed  and  their  God  having  been  hanged." 

190  To  this  family  belonged  Margaret  Geiger,  whom  Mrs.  Ellet  calls  one  of 
the  heroines  of  the  Revolution.  She  rode  a  great  distance  at  night  and  con- 
veyed important  information  to  General  Greene. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
The   Men    of    the    Revolution. 

Patriotic   Ministers — Generals  Herkimer  and  Steuben — Letter  to  Wash- 
ington. 

|HE  period  of  the  Revolution 
must  always  be  peculiarly  in- 
teresting to  Americans.  It 
may,  indeed,  be  asserted  that 
it  has  been  unduly  glorified 
by  poetry  and  romance,  and 
that  many  of  its  characters 
have  been  magnified  beyond 
their  proper  proportions.  We 
may  perhaps  acknowledge 
that  into  the  early  history  of  a  nation  the  mythical  element 
is  sure  to  intrude ;  but  for  this  very  reason  it  is  important 
that  facts  which  may  be  regarded  as  of  minor  importance 
should  be  gathered  and  preserved. 

That  the  great  majority  of  the  church  people — Reformed 
and  Lutheran — were  in  favor  of  political  independence, 
may  be  regarded  as  certain.  The  very  fact  that  they 
recognized  the  lawfulness  of  defensive  war  drew  a  line 
between  them  and  the  non-resistant  sects  who  were  thus 
placed  in  a  position  antagonistic  to  the  policy  of  Congress. 

(226) 


Patriotic  Ministers.  227 

In  looking  over  the  extant  muster-rolls  of  Pennsylvania 
regiments  we  observe  the  great  number  of  German  names  ; 
and  there  surely  can  be  no  difficulty  in  determining  the 
class  of  people  from  whom  the)- were  generally  derived. 

Though,  as  we  have  intimated,  several  Reformed  min- 
isters were  Loyalists,  we  do  not  think  that  any  one  of 
these  could  be  properly  regarded  as  a  Pennsylvanian.  As 
early  as  August,  1775,  the  Reformed  and  Lutheran  con- 
gregations of  Philadelphia,  in  association  with  the  Ger- 
man Society,  published  an  appeal  for  liberty  from  British 
oppression.  A  number  of  Reformed  ministers  served  as 
chaplains  in  the  American  arm)',  and  several  were  actually 
imprisoned  by  the  British  for  their  devotion  to  the  patriot 
cause.  Harbaugh  has  preserved  a  number  of  instances 
in  which  preachers  indicated  their  sentiments  by  the  choice 
of  peculiar  texts.  The  Reverend  John  H.  Weikel — an  in- 
dependent— got  into  trouble  at  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
by  preaching  in  Boehm's  church,  Montgomery  County,  on 
the  text :  "  Better  is  a  poor  and  wise  child  than  an  old  and 
foolish  king  who  will  not  be  admonished,"  Ecclesiastes,  vi, 
13.  Dr.  Weyberg,  of  Philadelphia,  was  imprisoned  for  his 
patriotism,  and  his  church  was  occupied  by  British  soldiers. 
The  church  was  so  greatly  injured  by  this  occupation 
that  the  cost  of  repairing  it  was  $15,200 — though  this  was, 
of  course,  in  continental  money  which  was  considerably 
depreciated.  On  the  Sunday  after  his  release  from  prison 
Dr.  Weyberg  addressed  his  congregation  on  the  words, 
"  O  God!  the  heathen  have  come  into  Thy  inheritance: 
Thy  holy  temple  have  they  defiled." 

The  Reverend  J.  C.  A.  Helffenstein  was  pastor  at  Lan- 
caster at  the  time  when  the  captive  Hessians  were  kept 
there  and  it  frequently  became  his  duty  to  preach  to  them. 
On  one  occasion  he  preached  on  the  text,  Isaiah  53  :  3. 


228  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

"For  thus  says  the  Lord,  Ye  have  sold  yourselves  for 
nought  and  ye  shall  be  redeemed  without  money."  Soon 
afterwards  he  preached  a  sermon  in  the  evening  on  the 
words:  "If  the  son  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  in- 
deed " ;  when  the  excitement  became  so  great  that  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  accompany  him  home  with  a  guard. 
Once  he  preached  to  the  American  soldiers  on  their  depar- 
ture for  the  scene  of  conflict  on  the  passage  :  "If  God  be 
for  us  who  can  be  against  us?  " 

The  Reformed  Church  certainly  had  its  full  proportion 
of  the  men  who  distinguished  themselves  on  the  field  of 
battle.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  men  like  Philip 
Schuyler,  who  belonged  to  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
we  must  not  forget  "the  hero  of  Oriskany."  Nicholas 
Herkimer  (1715-77)  always  wrote  his  name  Herchheimer. 
His  father  was  a  Palatine  and  one  of  the  original  patentees 
of  Eurnetsfield,  and  assisted  in  founding  the  church  of 
which  the  Rev.  George  Michael  Weiss  was  pastor.  The 
son  was  a  plain,  uneducated  man,  but  was  a  military 
genius  and  won  a  great  reputation  during  the  French  and 
Indian  War.  In  the  Revolution,  when  Fort  Stanwix  was 
invested  by  a  force  of  British  regulars  aided  by  Brant's 
Indians,  Herkimer  led  a  body  of  militia  to  the  relief  of  the 
garrison  ;  but  was  surprised  by  Col.  St.  Leger  and  severely 
wounded.  His  subordinates  wished  him  to  retire,  but  he 
took  his  seat  under  a  tree  and  smoked  his  pipe  while  giving 
orders  for  the  battle.  By  his  persistent  bravery  the  enemy 
was  repulsed,  but  Herkimer  died  of  his  wound,  or  rather 
of  an  unskilful  amputation.  The  scene  of  his  victory  is 
marked  by  a  splendid  monument. 

Baron  Frederick  William  von  Steuben  was  the  most 
celebrated  of  the  American  generals  who  were  identified 
with  the  Reformed  Church.     He  was  born  in  Magdeburg, 


Baron  Steuben. 


229 


Germany,  Nov.  15,  1730,  and  died  at  Steubenville,  N.  Y., 
Nov.  28,  1794-  His  career  is  so  well  known  that  it  seems 
useless  to  enlarge  upon  it.  Every  school  history  relates 
how  he  served  under  the  great  Frederick  during  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  and  how  after  an  interval  of  dignity  and  repose 
he  was  finally  induced  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  struggling 


<&  0. 


(ZStsO-Tlr 


<&~^U*tjl&rfy 


colonists.  Of  all  the  foreign  generals  who  took  the  part 
of  the  Americans  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  Steuben 
appears  to  us  to  have  been  the  one  whose  motives  were 
least  open  to  misconstruction,  and  whose  career  is  through- 
out most  completely  satisfactory.  As  Inspector  General 
of  the  American  army  he  took  charge  of  the  matter  of  dis- 
cipline, and  it  has  been  said  that  after  he  had  drilled  the 
soldiers  they  were  never  beaten  in  a  fair  fight.  At  York- 
town  he  held  an  independent  command  and  gained  the 
highest  distinction. 


230  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

These  facts  may  be  regarded  as  thoroughly  familiar : 
but  it  may  not  be  so  well  known  that  when  the  war  was 
over  Steuben  sought  out  the  church  of  his  fathers  and  took 
an  active  interest  in  its  affairs.  He  connected  himself 
with  the  German  Reformed  church  on  Nassau  street, 
New  York,  and  was  for  some  years  regarded  as  its  most 
eminent  member.  He  was  a  ruling  elder,  and  several 
times  wrote  the  minutes  of  the  consistory  in  the  absence  of 
the  regular  secretary.  His  death  occurred  at  his  country 
residence,  but  his  aide,  Colonel  North,  erected  a  tablet  to 
his  memory  on  the  walls  of  the  church  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  and  there  it  may  still  be  seen.191 

A  number  of  eminent  officers  of  inferior  rank  were  iden- 
tified with  the  Reformed  Church.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned  Colonels  Frederick  Antes,  Peter  Kichlein, 
Henry  Spyker,  Lewis  Farmer,  Peter  Nagle  and  Nicholas 
Lutz  ;  and  to  these  might  be  added  the  Hiester  family,  one 
of  whom  subsequently  became  Governor  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  such  well-known  names  as  John  Arndt,  John  Glon- 
inger  and  Valentine  Eckert — not  forgetting  Michael  Hil- 
legas,  who  was  Treasurer  of  the  United  States  during  this 
momentous  period. 

The  minutes  of  Coetus  contain  little  that  bears  directly 
on  the  progress  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  In  1777 
the  Coetus  prayed  the  "  Fathers  "  to  use  their  influence  to 
secure  mediation  between  the  contending  parties.  Days 
of  fasting  and  prayer  were  appointed,  and  in  1780  no 
meeting  could  be  held  on  account  of  the  disturbed  condi- 
tion of  the  country.  In  1781  a  pastor  (Dubbendorff)  is 
said  to  have  lost  his  influence  because  he  was  suspected 
of   sympathizing  with  the   British.     The  report   for  1786 

191  The  church  has  been  removed  to  Norfolk  street,  but  the  tablet  has  been 
preserved.  The  congregation  is  still  German,  but  now  belongs  to  the  Re- 
formed (Dutch)  Church  in  America.  Of  this  congregation  the  first  John  Jacob 
Astor  was  a  member  until  his  death. 


Patriots. 


231 


contains  the  following  curious  item:  "  The  people  have 
grown  luxurious  since  peace  has  been  declared,  and  do 
not  recognize  with  gratitude  the  great  things  which  God 
has  done  for  them.  O,  that  Americans  would  continue  to 
wear  home-made  clothes,  and  to  live  simply  as  they  did 
in  the  so-called  continental  times."  As  marking  the  be- 
ginning of  the  first  national  period  of  our  secular  history, 
the  following  brief  extract  from  the  Coetal  minutes  of 
1789  may  not  be  destitute  of  interest:  "As  General 
Washington  has  been  elected  President,  it  was  resolved  to 
send  him  a  letter  of  congratulation.  The  committee  con- 
sists  of  Weyberg,  Gros,  Blumer,  and  three  elders,  Col. 
Farmer  and  Messrs.  Grosskoup  and  Arndt,  both  esquires." 
For  many  years  after  the  Revolution  the  Loyalists,  or 
Tories,  were  utterly  condemned  by  popular  sentiment ;  but 
we  have  now  learned  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  there  were 
good  men  on  both  sides  of  that  momentous  struggle.  It 
is,  however,  pleasant  to  be  assured  that  the  great  majority 
of  our  ecclesiastical  predecessors  were  decided  in  their  sup- 
port of  the  cause  which  led  to  national  independence. 

'-W     - 


TOMB  OF   BARON  STEUBEN. 


9MF 

CHAPTER    XV. 

Otterbein    and  the    "  United   Ministers." 

Early  Training — Pastoral   Charges — Otterbein  and  Lange — Conflicts  in 
Baltimore — the  "New  Reformed." 


HEN  Schlatter  was  about  to 
bring  his  little  company  of 
Reformed  ministers  to  America,  he 
said  in  a  report  to  the  deputies  that 
Otterbein  was  "quiet  and  pious." 
This  judgment  was  justified  by  a 
long  career  of  labor  and  devotion ; 
and  though  Otterbein  could  not  es- 
cape the  opposition  which  comes  to 
all  men,  it  may  be  confidently  as- 
serted that  there  was  no  other  mem- 


ber of  Coetus  who  was  at  all  times  so  generally  esteemed. 
As  in  his  later  years  he  joined  with  several  other  Reformed 
ministers  in  an  evangelical  movement  which  finally  resulted 
in  the  establishment  of  a  separate  religious  denomination, 
his  relation  to  the  Reformed  Church  has  frequently  been 
misunderstood  ;  and  it  is  therefore  desirable — while  avoid- 
ing all  material  that  can  properly  be  regarded  as  contro- 
versial— to  furnish  a  brief  sketch  of  his  personal  history. 
Philip  William  Otterbein  was  born  June  3,  1726,  at  Dil- 
lenburg,  Nassau.      His  father  and  grandfather  had  been 

(232) 


Ottcrbcin   School-Book.  233 


I 


gefefcud)    l 

t  &  t- 

©cutfcfre  @d)irtfmbcr. 

£  c  c  a  11  3  9  c  3  e  6  «  it 

.  \>  o  n  ' 

%eorg  ©ottfrfefc  ©ttcvecfn, 

|  SMcnec  &e$  fiSttlicJpcit  -Ecrtf  ju  Siiteetirfl  am  Si&cin. 

$)lit  33eran&«rtm§cn  unt)  3"^^^^/ 

jinn  ©eGnutrf)  9?or&  =  tfi^r!auufdjcr  Sd;»fen.    } 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1  >  1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  'dl?1 1 '  'i  i '  1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  J 

Qetrucft  tmb  ralcflt  6?i)  €  a  1 1  €  i  (t. 

tf  — — — — * 


234  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

Reformed  ministers,  and  five  of  his  brothers  also  assumed 
the  sacred  office.  Of  his  brothers  several  became  eminent, 
and  one  was  a  successful  religious  author.192  The  whole 
family  was  unusually  devout,  and  seems  to  have  been 
greatly  under  the  influence  of  the  religious  movement  of 
which  such  men  as  Theodore  Untereyck  and  Gerhard 
Tersteegen  had  been  distinguished  exponents. 

William — for  by  this  name  he  was  always  known — re- 
ceived a  good  education  at  Herborn,  and  was  subsequently 
ordained  to  the  ministry.  He  was  pastor  at  Fliesbach 
when  Schlatter  invited  him  to  accompany  him  to  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  but  did  not  hesitate  to  undertake  the  work  to  which 
he  was  called. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  America  Otterbein  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church  in  Lancaster,  which 
was  then,  next  to  Philadelphia,  the  most  important  in  the 
province.  His  immediate  predecessors  had  left  the  con- 
gregation rent  and  distracted.  His  sincerity  and  enthusi- 
asm were,  however,  irresistible,  and  the  scattered  elements 
were  soon  reunited.  A  church  was  erected  which  re- 
mained standing  until  1853.  He  insisted  earnestly  on 
church  discipline,  and  a  document  signed  by  many  of  his 
members  is  still  extant,  pledging  them  to  the  strictest  ob- 
servance of  their  duties.  In  the  minutes  of  Coetus  for  1757 
he  is  called  "  an  excellent  pastor." 

Besides  preaching  in  Lancaster  and  New  Providence 
Otterbein  served  as  a  member  of  two  committees  of  supply, 
which  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to  preach  occasionally 
in  Reading  and   at   Conewago,  Adams  County,  and  for 


1S2Georg  Gottfried  Otterbein  (1731-1736)  was  a  younger  brother  of  Philip 
William.  He  was  the  author  of  three  volumes  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
and  of  several  text-books  for  schools.  The  title-page  which  is  here  reproduced 
has  been  kindly  contributed  by  Mr.  Sachse.  The  American  edition  has  been 
hitherto  unknown. 


Tu  If  ch  ocken.  235 

some  time  he  also  preached  at  York.  These  were  no 
doubt  the  "  itinerant  labors  "  to  which  he  referred  in  his 
old  age  as  having  been  undertaken  while  he  was  pastor  in 
Lancaster. 

In  1758  Otterbein  left  Lancaster  rather  suddenly.  He 
had  intended  to  visit  his  relatives  in  Europe,  but  was  pre- 
vented, it  is  said,  by  a  war  which  was  then  raging.  When 
he  subsequently  remonstrated  with  Steiner  for  irregularly 
accepting  a  call  to  Philadelphia  the  latter  retorted:  "If 
I  were  to  make  myself  a  judge  of  your  conduct  I  would 
say  :  '  Your  departure  from  Lancaster  and  your  delay  in 
making  your  proposed  journey  to  the  fatherland  do  not 
please  me.'  *  *  *  But  as  I  do  not  know  your  private  mo- 
tives, I  cannot  presume  to  judge."193     From  1758  to  1760 


IjDtkuitMi 


Otterbein  was  pastor  at  Tulpehocken.  He  is  said,  in  the 
minutes  of  Coetus,  to  have  labored  "  with  a  blessing."  In 
1759  he  declined  a  call  to  Frederick,  Md.  In  a  letter  to 
Holland,  in  1760,  the  following  passage  appears:  "We 
announce  with  pleasure  that  Domine  Otterbein  has  deter- 
mined to  remain  longer  with  us.  He  still  labors  with 
great  energy  and  success  in  Tulpehocken.  Occasionally 
he  makes  a  journey  to  Fredericktown,  in  Maryland,  in 
order  to  keep  together  the  sheep  who  were  left  without  a 
shepherd  by  Domine  Steiner,  and  to  feed  them  with  the 
word  of  God." 

In  the  same  year  the  call  from  Frederick  was  renewed, 
and  it  was  the  judgment  of  the  Coetus  that  it  should  be  ac- 
cepted "  on  account  of  the  isolated  position  of  the  church." 


1 9  3  Mayer  MSS. ,  I ,  p.  114. 


236  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1762,  Otterbein  was  married  to 
Susan  Le  Roy,  of  Lancaster,  Pa.  She  was  no  doubt  a 
near  relative  of  Jean  Jacques  Le  Roy,  an  Indian  trader 
who  was  killed  by  the  savages  at  Mahoning  in  1755,  and 
whose  family  subsequently  resided  in  Lancaster.194  One 
of  her  sisters  was  married  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Hendel.  We  know  nothing  concerning  Otterbein's  do- 
mestic life,  except  that  his  wife  died  April  27,  1768,  aged 
32  years  and  5  months,195  leaving  no  children.  Her  hus- 
band remained  a  widower  until  his  death. 

During  the  five  years  which  he  spent  in  Frederick,  Otter- 
bein accomplished  a  great  work.  A  fine  church  and  par- 
sonage were  erected,  and  the  congregation  manifested  a 
degree  of  energy  to  which  it  had  previously  been  a  stranger. 
The  pastor  was,  however,  violently  opposed  by  a  party 
who  regarded  his  methods  as  new  and  revolutionary.  In 
the  English  churches  he  would  have  been  called  a  "  New 
Light,"  for  he  insisted  strongly  on  personal  religious  ex- 
perience, and  held  frequent  prayer  meetings  in  which  the 
members  of  the  church  were  expected  to  take  an  active 
part.  It  has  been  intimated  that  Otterbein's  "  new  mea- 
sures "  rendered  him  unpopular  in  the  Coetus,  and  led  to 
persecution,  but  this  is  undoubtedly  a  mistake.  Most  of 
the  members  of  Coetus  had  been  educated  under  pietistic 
influences  and  thoroughly  sympathized  with  Otterbein. 

In  1765  Otterbein  accepted  a  call  to  York,  Pa.,  holding 
this  pastorate  until  1774.  Here  he  was  very  popular,  so 
that  though  he  was  absent  in  1770  and  1771,  on  a  visit  to 
his  relatives  in  Germany,  his  people  refused  to  give  him  up. 

It  was  in  1767  that  Otterbein's  religious  methods  first 
claimed  the  official  attention  of  Coetus.    The  Rev.  Charles 


194Rupp's  "History  of  Lancaster  County,"  p.  354. 
195  Records  of  First  Reformed  Church,  Lancaster. 


Complaints  against  Otterbein.  237 

Lange  had  in  the  meantime  become  pastor  at  Fred- 
erick. He  was  decidedly  opposed  to  Otterbein's  revivals, 
and  even  went  so  far  as  to  bring  charges  against  him. 
How  he  was  received  by  Coetus  becomes  evident  from  the 
following  section  of  the  minutes,  which  though  somewhat 
extended  is  worthy  of  translation  : 

"  Complaints   between   D.    Otterbein,  D.  Lange  and  the 
congregation  at  Fredericktozvn. 

"  The  circumstances  are  as  follows  :  When  D.  Otter- 
bein removed  from  Frederick  to  York  the  congregation 
was  without  a  pastor  for  a  whole  year.  Certain  members, 
therefore,  met  on  Sundays,  and  one  of  them  read  a  pas- 
sage from  the  Scriptures  or  a  book  of  sermons,  or  they 
occupied  themselves  with  religious  discourse  ;  sometimes 
they  sung  a  psalm  or  hymn  and  prayed.  Other  members 
did  nothing  of  the  kind,  but  spoke  against  them. 

"  This  was  the  state  of  affairs  before  D.  Lange  went 
there.  Although  he  had  been  informed  of  the  matter,  he 
at  once  took  the  side  of  those  who  had  opposed  the  meet- 
ings. He  was  therefore  accused  to  Coetus  by  many  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation  of  having  publicly  and  privately 
used  all  kinds  of  objectionable  and  contemptuous  language 
against  those  who  attended  the  meetings,  also  accusing 
them  of  sectarianism  without  giving  a  reason  for  his  accu- 
sation. Therefore,  they  no  longer  attended  his  preaching. 
They  further  accused  him  of  improper  expressions  in 
spiritual  matters. 

"  After  D.  Lange  had  been  some  time  in  Frederick,  D. 
Otterbein  went  there  on  business.  He  preached  there  one 
Sunday,  and  afterwards  D.  Lange  forbade  him  the  pulpit, 
that  he  should  not  preach  in  the  church  when  he  came  to 
that  place. 


238  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

"  Lange  had  a  great  deal  to  say  (before  Coetus)  against 
D.  Otterbein's  preaching.  He  accused  him  of  despising 
public  worship,  the  sacraments,  the  ministry,  and  also  of 
scattering  the  congregation.  In  proof  of  his  accusations 
he  referred  to  the  sermon  which  D.  Otterbein  had  preached 
on  the  previous  day  at  the  opening  of  Coetus.  D.  Otter- 
bein defended  himself  against  all  the  charges  which  D. 
Lange  had  brought  against  him,  declaring  himself  to  be 
in  all  respects  orthodox,  leaving  his  sermon  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  ministers,  because  all  who  were  present  had 
heard  it. 

"  After  all  this  had  been  minutely  presented,  the  follow- 
ing conclusions  were  drawn  from  the  facts  : 

"(a)  That  neither  in  general  doctrine  nor  especially  in 
the  sermon  which  he  preached  at  the  opening  of  Coetus 
can  D.  Otterbein  be  justly  charged  with  contempt  of  wor- 
ship, of  the  sacraments,  nor  of  the  ministry ;  nor  can  he 
be  charged  with  scattering  the  congregation. 

"  (5)  That  it  is  not  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  our  church 
for  people  to  meet  occasionally  for  prayer  and  to  study  the 
word  of  God. 

"  (c)  That  no  congregation  which  belongs  to  Coetus  has 
a  right  to  forbid  its  pulpit  to  a  member  of  the  same  on  its 
own  responsibility  and  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
Coetus. 

"  (d)  That  D.  Lange  should  as  soon  as  possible  be  re- 
moved to  another  congregation.  If  the  congregation  in 
Fredericktown  becomes  harmonious  it  shall  again  be  sup- 
plied with  a  regular  pastor ;  and  if  they  call  a  member  of 
Coetus  he  may  accept  the  call  with  the  approval  of  Coetus. 

11  (e)  That  on  account  of  imprudent  remarks  concerning 
divine  things  D.  Lange  be  required  to  confess  his  error. 

"  D.  Lange  made  the  required  confession.     It  was  then 


Baltimore.  239 

resolved  that,  on  account  of  his  confession  and  promise  of 
amendment,  D.  Lange  shall  be  regarded  as  a  member  of 
Coetus  until  additional  charges  are  presented." 

It  subsequently  appeared  that  Lange  was  an  unworthy- 
man,  and  in  later  minutes  he  is  termed  "  a  lost  brother." 
We  have,  however,  quoted  this  action  to  show  how  com- 
pletely the  Coetus  sympathized  with  Otterbein. 

For  several  years  there  had  been  a  conflict  in  Baltimore 
which  threatened  the  destruction  of  the  congregation.  To 
relate  its  particulars  would  demand  more  space  than  we 
can  possibly  afford.  It  may,  however,  be  briefly  said  that 
in  its  earliest  years  the  congregation  was  not  connected 
with  synod  and  we  are  therefore  unable  to  determine  the 
date  of  its  organization.  The  Rev.  John  Christopher 
Faber — a  relative  of  John  Theobald  Faber — was  called  to 
the  pastorate  in  1768;  but  his  services  failed  to  prove 
acceptable  to  the  most  devout  people  in  the  congregation. 
Another  ground  of  objection,  according  to  a  statement 
subsequently  entered  by  Otterbein  on  the  records  of  his 
congregation,  was  found  in  the  fact  that  he  was  not  a  mem- 
ber of  Coetus.  In  1770  an  effort  was  made  to  remove  Mr. 
Faber,  but  it  proved  unsuccessful,  and  the  party  opposing 
him  then  withdrew  and  built  a  chapel,  though  neither  party 
regarded  the  separation  as  final,  and  by  mutual  consent  the 
whole  matter  was  referred  to  Coetus. 

Benedict  Schwob,  or  Swope,196  became  the  pastor  of  the 
seceding  congregation,  though  as  yet  he  had  not  been 
ordained.  He  had  been  a  ruling  elder  in  St.  Benjamin's 
church,  near  Westminster,  Md.,  as  early  as  1763,  but  of 
his  preparation  for  the  ministry  we  have  no  information. 
From  his  extant  German  manuscript  we  conclude  that  he 

198  The  name  was  variously  written,  even  by  its  owner.  No  doubt  it  was 
originally  Schwab. 


240  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

was  very  imperfectly  educated ;  but  he  must  have  devel- 
oped unusual  oratorical  talent.  His  congregation  earnestly 
desired  his  ordination,  and  the  Coetus  after  long  delibera- 
tion complied  with  their  request  on  the  ground  of  the  neces- 
sities of  the  Church  in  Maryland.  The  act  was  irregular, 
but  was  condoned  by  the  authorities  in  Holland,  because 
Maryland  did  not  "  fall  within  their  jurisdiction." 

For  several  years  the  minutes  of  Coetus  were  burdened 
with  the  affairs  of  the  Church  in  Baltimore,  and  every  effort 
was  made  to  reunite  the  parties.  At  last  it  was  determined 
that  both  ministers  should  withdraw  to  make  room  for  a 
new  pastor.  This  was  believed  to  be  a  final  settlement, 
and  Faber  at  once  removed  to  Taney  town.  Schwob  un- 
fortunately remained  in  Baltimore  some  time  longer,  and 
the  old  church  accused  him  of  unfaithfulness  to  the  agree- 
ment. On  this  ground  the}'  extended  a  call  to  George 
Frederick  Wallauer,  a  minister  who  had  come  independ- 
ently from  Germany  and  had  not  been  admitted  to  Coetus. 
By  this  act  the  last  hope  of  reunion  was  destroyed,  and 
the  first  church  was  for  some  years  regarded  as  inde- 
pendent of  Coetus. 

The  second  church  had  repeatedly  requested  Mr.  Otter- 
bein  to  become  its  pastor,  and  finally  in  1774  he  accepted 
the  call.  The  Coetus  had  previously  expressed  its  doubt 
as  to  the  propriety  of  the  settlement  on  account  of  the 
prejudice  of  one  of  the  parties,  but  in  1775  the  call  was 
regularly  confirmed.  At  the  same  time  the  Coetus  ex- 
pressed its  satisfaciion  that  "  his  labors  are  blest  and  the 
opposing  party  cease  from  strife." 

For  nearly  thirty-nine  years  Mr.  Otterbein  was  pastor  of 
the  second  church  of  Baltimore.  The  congregation  did 
not  grow  rapidly,  as  the  records  show,  but  the  members 
remained  sincerely  attached  to  their  pastor,  though  he  was 


A  Burning  j^jicstion.  241 

often  absent  on  account  of  general  evangelistic  work. 
There  was  a  certain  rivalry  between  the  two  Reformed 
congregations  which  occasionally  became  acute  ;  but  Otter- 
bein  always  remained  a  member  of  Coetus  in  good  and 
regular  standing.  In  1788,  in  writing  to  the  synods  of 
Holland,  he  relates  the  history  of  his  congregation  and 
then  adds  :  "  The  schism  occurred  in  my  absence.  I  took 
charge  of  that  portion  of  the  congregation  which  was  al- 
ways submissive  to  Coetus  and  sought  for  discipline  and 
order.  To  take  charge  of  them  was  with  me  a  matter  of 
conscience.     Therefore  I  have  the  approval  of  Coetus." 

In  1774  Otterbein  made  the  acquaintance  of  Francis  As- 
bury,  the  pioneer  of  American  Methodism.  As  is  well 
known,  the  latter  did  not  propose  to  establish  a  separate 
religious  denomination  ;  but  in  furtherance  of  the  move- 
ment inaugurated  by  Wesley  and  his  coadjutors,  he  founded 
societies  whose  sole  condition  of  membership  was  "  a  de- 
sire to  flee  the  wrath  to  come  and  be  freed  from  sin."197  The 
sacraments  were  not  administered  in  these  Methodist  soci- 
eties, but  the  class  system  was  introduced,  and  some  of  the 
"leaders"  then  appointed  subsequently  became  earnest 
Methodist  ministers. 

With  the  general  features  of  this  system  Otterbein  must 
have  been  familiar  from  childhood.  It  was  based  on  the 
pietistic  idea  of  the  "  ecclesiola  in  ecclesia,"  which  had 
been  familiar  to  the  Reformed  people  of  Germany  since 
the  days  of  Jean  de  Labadie.  What  was  more  natural  than 
that  it  should  seem  to  furnish  an  answer  to  what  was  then 
a  burning  question,  especially  in  Maryland?  The  people 
were  everywhere  clamoring  for  religious  instruction,  but 
there  were  but  few  ministers  and  some  of  the  widely  scat- 
tered congregations  were  but  rarely  visited.       The  only 

197  American  Cyclopaedia.     Article,  "Methodism." 


2\2  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

practicable  expedient  seemed  to  be  to  enlist  the  laity  in  the 
work  of  the  Church  ;  and  Otterbein  and  Schwob  proceeded 
to  organize  societies  or  classes  in  all  the  churches  to  which 
their  influence  extended.  These  societies  were  to  meet  as 
often  as  possible  for  religious  edification  and  their  leaders 
were  to  aid  their  pastors  in  promoting  devotion  and  in  exer- 
cising proper  discipline.  Semi-annual  conferences  were 
held,  at  which  reports  were  presented  from  the  several  so- 
cieties or  classes. 

In  1883  the  present  writer  discovered  the  minutes  of 
five  of  these  conferences  among  the  records  of  St.  Ben- 
jamin's church,  near  Westminster,  Maryland,  which  is 
situated  in  the  region  once  known  as  "Pipe  Creek."198 
From  these  minutes  it  appears  that  the  movement  was  at 
that  time  confined  to  the  Reformed  Church.  It  included, 
we  believe,  all  the  Reformed  pastors  in  Maryland,  except 
Wallauer  and  Faber,  whose  absence  is  easily  explained, 
and  several  Pennsylvania  charges  were  also  represented. 
The  pastors  who  signed  the  minutes,  besides  Otterbein  and 
Schwob,  were  Jacob  Weimer,  of  Hagerstown,  F.  L. 
Henop,  of  Frederick,  Daniel  Wagner,  of  York,  Pa.,  and 
William  Hendel,  of  Tulpehocken,  Pa.  The  class-leaders 
were  among  the  most  devout  and  influential  members  of 
the  Church. 

Unfortunately  these  minutes  are  not  complete.  They 
begin  May  29,  1774,  and  end  abruptly  on  the  2d  of  June, 
1776,  though  the  conference  adjourned  to  meet  on  the 
2d  of  October  of  the  latter  year  at  the  house  of  Jacob 
Wilt  in  Conewago.199     Whether  the  meetings   were  con- 


198  These  minutes  were  published  by  the  author  in  an  article  in  the  Re- 
formed Quarterly  Review,  for  January,  1884,  and  were  reprinted  by  Drury  in 
his  "  Life  of  Otterbein." 

199  Christ  church,  near  Littlestown,  Adams  County,  Pa. 


United  Ministers.  243 

tinued  we  do  not  know.  Probably  they  were  suspended 
during  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  to  be  subsequently  re- 
vived in  a  somewhat  different  form. 

In  1776  the  "  United  Ministers  "  ordained  Henry  Wei- 
der,  who  had  been  one  of  the  earliest  class-leaders.  The 
fact  was  not  reported  to  the  authorities  in  Holland,  possibly 
on  the  ground  that  Maryland  did  not  •'  fall  within  their 
jurisdiction."  Weider  does  not  seem  to  have  been  very 
active  in  the  ministry,  but  as  late  as  1790  he  was  pastor  of 
the  Bermudian  church  in  Adams  County,  Pa.20"  George 
Adam  Gueting201  was  another  of  the  early  class-leaders. 
Otterbein  instructed  him  in  theology  and  in  1783  brought 
him  to  Coetus  for  examination  and  ordination.  Greatly  to 
the  displeasure  of  the  Hollanders  the  Coetus  ordained  him, 
on  the  ground  of  "  the  necessities  of  the  Church  in  Mary- 
land," but  he  never  became  an  active  member.  He  was 
an  enthusiast  of  the  most  pronounced  type,  and  conducted 
the  "big  meetings"  on  the  Antietam  which  are  not  yet 
forgotten.  In  this  respect  he  went  much  farther  than  Mr. 
Otterbein,  who  was  more  quiet  and  reflective.  It  was  prob- 
ably greatly  due  to  him  that  the  class-system  was  revived, 
but  Otterbein  was  the  only  one  of  the  original  Reformed 
"  United  Ministers"  who  continued  to  attend  the  confer- 
ences.202 Members  of  other  denominations  took  a  promi- 
nent part,  and  peculiarities  were  developed  which  are  fa- 
miliar to  all  who  have  studied  the  history  of  early  Metho- 
dism. Otterbein  evidently  had  no  idea  of  establishing  a 
separate  denomination;  it  was  to  him  a  "  society"  rather 


200  Henry  Weider  was  the  step-father  of  Barbara  Frietchie,  the  heroine  of 
Whittier's  ballad. 

201  The  name  was  also  written  Guething  and  Geeting.     Many  members  of 
the  family  now  generally  write  their  name  "  Keedy. " 

202  Schwob  had  removed  to  East  Tennessee,  and  had  taken  charge  of  sev- 
eral small  Reformed  churches  ;  his  later  history  is  unknown. 


244  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

than  a  church,  and  therefore  from  1789  to  1804  he  served 
as  one  of  the  superintendents  of  the  movement.  Martin 
Boehm,  the  other  superintendent,  was  of  Mennonite  ex- 
traction, and  was  never  in  any  way  connected  with  the 
Reformed  Church. 

In  1804  occurred  an  event  which,  it  has  been  said,  "  drove 
the  wedge  of  separation."  Gueting  had  become  more  and 
more  irregular,  and  as  he  did  not  heed  the  admonitions  of 
synod  he  was  finally  excluded  by  a  vote  of  twenty  to  seven- 
teen. The  action  was  modified  by  the  proviso  that  on 
manifesting  a  proper  disposition  he  might  at  any  time  be 
restored.  This  action  of  the  synod  has  been  sharply  criti- 
cised, but  it  is  hard  to  see  how  with  proper  self-respect  the 
decision  could  have  been  different.  There  was  no  reflec- 
tion on  Gueting's  personal  character,  but  the  type  of  re- 
ligion which  he  represented  was  certainly  foreign  to  the 
genius  of  the  Reformed  Church,  as  it  now  began  to  be 
more  thoroughly  comprehended.  It  is  believed  that  the 
action  of  synod  was  exactly  what  Mr.  Gueting  expected 
and  desired.  He  became  one  of  the  chief  organizers  of 
the  Church  of  the  "  United  Brethren  in  Christ." 

Mr.  Otterbein  remained  pastor  of  the  Second  Evangel- 
ical Reformed  Church  until  his  death,  which  occurred 
October  17,  1813.  There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt  that 
he  was  warmly  attached  to  the  men  with  whom  he  had 
labored,  and  the  latter  always  regarded  him  with  sincere 
affection.  Popularly  the  "Brethren"  were  still  known  as 
"  New  Reformed"  ;  but  Otterbein  must  have  foreseen  that 
a  separation  was  unavoidable  and  one  of  his  last  official 
acts  was  to  give  them  a  settled  ministry  by  conferring  on 
several  of  them  the  rite  of  ordination.  Thus  he  sent 
them  forth  with  his  benediction,  though  he  personally  pre- 
ferred to  remain  in  the  church  of  his  fathers.     When  the 


Testimonial.  245 

division  came  a  number  of  others  who  had  participated  in 
the  conferences  declined  to  make  the  transition.  Among 
these  were  J.  D.  Aurand,  Henry  Hiestand,  John  Ernst  and 
Thomas  Winters,  who  became  worthy  ministers  of  the  Re- 
formed Church.  Winters  says  in  his  autobiography : 
"During  this  time"  (between  1809  and  1815)  "I  was 
strongly  urged  to  go  into  the  organization  of  a  new  church, 
called  the  '  United  Brethren  in  Christ,'  which  was  then  in 
process  of  formation  and  which  did  actually  come  into 
being :  but  like  the  great  Otterbein  whom  I  greatly  loved 
and  esteemed  for  his  piety  and  talents,  I  preferred  rather 
to  live  and  die  in  the  Reformed  Church." 

The  congregation  of  which  Otterbein  was  pastor  was, 
however,  so  thoroughly  permeated  by  the  spirit  of  the 
movement  in  which  he  was  actively  engaged,  that  after 
his  death  it  became  possible  to  alienate  it  from  the  church 
to  which  it  originally  belonged.  How  highly  Otterbein 
was  esteemed  appears  in  an  official  letter  sent  to  Holland 
in  1788  from  which  we  quote  the  following  passage  :  "In 
reply  to  questions  concerning  Dominie  Otterbein,  it  ap- 
pears that  it  has  never  entered  the  minds  of  any  one  of 
the  ministers  to  accuse  him  of  erroneous  views,  or  to  bring 
charges  against  him,  except  in  mentioning  certain  com- 
plaints, and  then  rather  as  a  historical  relation  than  as  an 
accusation.  Do.  Otterbein  has  become  old,  gray,  and 
almost  helpless  in  the  difficult  service  of  the  Gospel  in 
America.  He  has  done  a  great  deal  of  good,  he  has 
labored  earnestly  for  the  salvation  of  many  souls,  and  the 
purpose  of  his  ministry — though  it  may  not  in  the  strictest 
sense  have  always  accorded  with  the  opinion  of  everyone — 
was  edification  and  blessing — for  what  else  could  it  be  ?  He 
is  surely  a  servant  of  the  Lord,  standing  before  the  gates 
of  eternity  to  give  an  account  of  his  stewardship." 


246 


The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 


This  document  was  signed,  in  behalf  of  the  Coetus,  by 
Albert  Helffenstein  and  Frederick  Dallicker.  A  more 
splendid  testimonial  could  not  have  been  composed,  and  it 
certainly  justifies  the  reverence  with  which,  in  the  Re- 
formed Church,  the  memory  of  Otterbein  has  always  been 
regarded. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Later  Years  of  the  Coetus,  1770-1792. 

The  L3st  Missionaries — Franklin  College — Separation  from  Holland. 


01 


iUR  sketch  of  the  later 
years  of  the  Coetus 
must  necessarily  be  brief, 
though  the  period  is  not  des- 
titute of  interest.  During 
the  war  of  the  Revolution 
there  were  naturally  few 
signs  of  progress,  and  in 
1778  and  1780  no  meeting 
of  Coetus  was  held.  The 
relations  with  Holland,  how- 
ever, remained  unchanged, 
though  the  correspondence 
was  frequently  delayed  by 
political  conditions. 
It  is,  indeed,  remarkable  that  the  German  Coetus  ap- 
peared to  guard  these  relations  more  jealously  than  had 
been  done  by  the  Dutch  Church  of  New  York,  though  the 
latter  had  the  additional  tie  of  community  in  race  and  lan- 
guage. As  early  as  1767  the  Rev.  John  Leydt  appeared 
before  the  German  Coetus  as  a  delegate  from  "  the  Coetus 
of  New  Jersey  and  New  York,"  proposing  to  open  a  corre- 
spondence and  soliciting  aid  for  a  high-school  in  New  Jer- 

(247) 


248  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

sey.  In  taking  action  on  these  subjects  the  German 
Coetus  expresses  its  approval  of  both  propositions  "  on 
condition  that  it  does  not  affect  our  relations  to  Holland." 
"  We  will  assist  in  establishing  the  high-school,  having 
appreciated  its  necessity.  It  would  be  much  better  to  pre- 
pare ministers  in  this  country  than  to  put  the  fathers  to  the 
expense  of  paying  their  expenses  from  Germany."203  Even 
the  establishment  of  national  independence  created  no  de- 
sire for  ecclesiastical  separation.  In  1785  the  Coetus  says  : 
"  We  do  not  wish  to  be  separated  from  the  Church  of  Hol- 
land. This  would  be  the  basest  ingratitude  and  the  greatest 
folly." 

The  number  of  ministers  sent  from  Holland  in  these 
latter  years  was  not  as  large  as  the  necessities  of  the 
Church  demanded.  In  1771  came  Charles  Louis  Boehme 
and  Abraham  Blumer — men  of  culture  and  ability,  to 
whom  we  have  already  referred.  A  year  later  arrived 
John  Henry  Helffrich,204  J.  C.  Albertus  Helffenstein 205  and 
John  Gabriel  Gebhart.206  All  of  these  became  eminent 
and  influential.  Helffrich  and  Helffenstein  were  half- 
brothers,  and  Gebhart  had  been  the  companion  of  their 
boyhood.  Helffenstein's  father,  the  Rev.  Peter  Helffen- 
stein, was  inspector  of  the  Reformed  churches  of  the  dis- 

203  Minutes  of  Coetus,  1767.  This  academy  was  preliminary  to  the  founda- 
tion of  Queen's  College  (now  Rutgers),  which  was  incorporated  in  1770. 

204 Helffrich  became  pastor  (in  1772)  of  churches  in  L,ehigh  and  Berks 
Counties  and  remained  there  until  his  death.  The  same  charge  has  since  been 
occupied  by  three  generations  of  his  descendants.  His  grandson,  the  late 
Rev.  Wm.  A.  Helffrich,  D.D.,  was  the  author  of  a  number  of  excellent  works 
in  the  German  language. 

205  Helffenstein  was  pastor  at  Germantown  and  Lancaster.  Two  volumes 
of  his  sermons  were  published  after  his  death  and  one  of  them  was  translated 
into  English.  Four  of  his  sons — Samuel,  Charles,  Jonathan  and  Albert — 
entered  the  ministry. 

206  Gebhart,  after  serving  the  churches  at  Whitpain  and  Worcester  for  two 
years,  removed  to  New  York.  He  was  pastor  at  Claverack  for  50  years  and 
founded  the  Washington  Institute. 


Confirmation  of  a   Call. 


249 


252  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

for  the  ministry  in  America.  These  candidates  were  Cas- 
par Wack,210  Daniel  Wagner,211  John  Wm.  Weber,212  John 
Conrad  Steiner,213  and  John  W.  G.  Neveling.214 

Other  ministers  who  were  admitted  by  Coetus  on  its  own 
responsibility  were  J.  Christian  Stahlschmidt  (1740-1825), 
John  William  Runkel  (1749-1832),  John  Herman  Wink- 
haus  (1758-1793),  Anthony  William  Hautz  (1758-1830), 
Ludovicus  Chitara  and  Philip  Reinhold  Pauli  (1742-1815). 
Stahlschmidt  returned  to  Germany  and  is  remembered  as 
the  author  of  a  book,  descriptive  of  his  American  experi- 
ences, entitled  "  Pilger  Reise  zu  Wasser  und  zu  Land." 
Runkel,  though  pastor  of  prominent  churches,  performed 
much  missionary  labor.  Winkhaus  had  been  for  two 
years  pastor  of  a  church  in  Europe  before  he  came  to 
America.  He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  ability,  who 
was  called  to  Philadelphia  in  1790,  but  died  of  yellow 
fever  three  years  later.  Chitara  had  been  an  Augustinian 
monk,  but  studied  theology  in  America  and  served 
churches  in  New  Jersey.  Hautz  studied  under  Dr.  Hendel, 
and  after  serving  several  charges  in  Pennsylvania,  re- 
moved to  Seneca  County,  New  York.  Pauli  was  a  grand- 
son of  Herman  Reinhold  Pauli,  court-preacher  in  Halle, 


310  Caspar  Wack  (1752-1839),  the  earliest  German  Reformed  Minister  of 
American  birth.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  member  of  Coetus  to  preach 
regularly  in  English,  though  others  had  preached  occasionally  in  that  lan- 
guage. 

311  Daniel  Wagner  (1750-1810)  was  a  very  influential  minister.  Pastor 
at  York,  Tulpehocken  and  Frederick,  Md. 

2,2  John  William  Weber  (1735-1816).  He  founded  the  church  of  Greens- 
burg,  and  was  the  first  minister  of  any  denomination  to  preach  in  Pittsburg. 
He  is  regarded  as  the  pioneer  of  the  Reformed  Church  west  of  the  Alleghenies. 

2X3 John  Conrad  Sleiner,  son  of  the  early  minister  of  the  same  name,  was 
pastor  in  Berks  County  and  afterwards  in  Northampton.     He  died  in  1782. 

tliJohn  Wesley  Gilberl  Neveling  (1750  1844),  a  relative  of  Dr.  Weyberg, 
was  pastor  at  Atnwell,  N.  J.,  and  afterwards  in  Reading.  In  consequence  of 
an  accident  he  was  paralyzed  and  remained  an  invalid  for  sixty  years,  dying 
at  the  age  of  ninety-four. 


Pioneers.  253 

and  was  descended  in  the  seventh  generation  from  a  cele- 
brated professor  in  Heidelberg,  Daniel  Tossanus.  After 
he  came  to  America  he  was  for  some  years  teacher  of 
Latin  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  but  is  best  known 
for  his  long  pastorate  in  Reading.  Two  of  his  sons, 
William  and  Charles  Augustus,  became  Reformed  minis- 
ters. Perhaps  we  ought  in  this  connection  to  mention  Fred- 
erick William  Vandersloot,  who  came  to  America  in  1782, 
and  served  several  congregations  with  the  consent  of  Coetus, 
but  was  never  admitted  to  membership.215  John  William 
Boos,  who  preached  in  Berks  County,  occupied  a  somewhat 
similar  position.  The  Coetus  desired  to  receive  him,  but 
the  Holland  deputies  refused  their  consent,  so  he  remained 
independent.  Jonathan  Rahauser  (1764-1817)  and  John 
Philip  Stock  were  ordained  by  Coetus  in  1791.  Rahauser, 
though  a  self-made  man,  was  pastor  at  Hagerstown,  Md., 
from  1792  to  1817  and  exerted  an  extensive  influence. 
Stock  was  a  native  of  Hesse  and  had  studied  at  Duisburg. 
He  preached  at  York,  Shippensburg  and  Chambersburg 
and  prepared  several  young  men  for  the  ministry.  He  is 
said  to  have  died  at  Wooster,  Ohio,  but  the  particulars  of 
his  later  ministry  are  unknown.  John  Mann,  who  was  in 
1792  ordained  as  pastor  at  Lower  Sancon  and  Springfield, 
was  for  several  years  prominent  in  the  Church,  but  he 
finally  retired  from  the  ministry  and  became  a  farmer. 
Concerning  his  personal  history  hardly  anything  is  known, 
but  there  is  a  tradition  that  during  his  pastorate  there  was 
a  serious  conflict  in  Lower  Sancon.  One  Sunday  he  an- 
nounced as  his  text,  Micah  3,8:  "I  am  full  of  power  *  *  * 
to  declare  unto  Jacob  his  transgression  and  to  Israel  his 
sin."  His  sermon  became  so  personal  that  two  prominent 
members,  whose  names  were  respectively  Jacob  and  Israel, 

115  He  must  not  be  confounded  with  his  son  who  bore  the  same  name. 


254  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

got  up  and  walked   out  of  church.     The  bolt  had  struck 
home. 

We  have  not  had  room  even  to  mention  the  names  of 
all  the  men  who  labored  in  the  German  Reformed  Church 
during  the  period  of  the  Coetus  ;  but  enough  has  probably 
been  said  to  give  a  correct  idea  of  the  constitution  of  this 
early  ecclesiastical  organization.  It  is  evident  that  for 
some  years  the  ties  which  connected  it  with  Holland  had 
gradually  been  growing  weaker.  The  annual  stipend  was 
a  source  of  dissension  rather  than  of  actual  advantage. 
As  early  as  1774  the  whole  sum  received  from  Holland, 
amounting  to  250  florins,  was  devoted  to  the  Widows' 
Fund.  Again  and  again  the  members  of  the  Coetus  re- 
quested their  patrons  in  Holland  to  apply  their  benefactions 
to  the  establishment  of  a  school  in  America  for  the  training 
of  ministers;  but  on  this  "  the  fathers  "  were  inflexible. 
They  would  neither  aid  in  the  establishment  of  an  Amer- 
ican institution  of  learning,  nor  grant  to  the  American 
churches  the  privilege  of  conferring  the  rite  of  ordination. 

In  1787  the  Coetus  determined  to  unite  with  the  Lu- 
theran Church  in  an  effort  to  establish  an  institution  for  the 
training  of  ministers  for  the  German  churches  in  America. 
The  time  for  such  an  enterprise  appeared  to  be  peculiarly 
auspicious.  The  country  had  in  some  degree  recovered 
from  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  engaged  in  fram- 
ing a  Federal  Constitution.  Many  ancient  prejudices  had 
passed  away,  and  there  was  especially  a  kindly  feeling 
towards  the  Germans  for  their  patriotism  during  the  war  of 
independence.  The  two  leading  German  denominations 
were  on  intimate  terms,  and  there  appeared  to  be  no  reason 
why  they  should  not  engage  in  a  common  enterprise  for  the 
intellectual  advancement  of  their  people.  It  is,  therefore, 
not  surprising  that  as  soon  as  the  establishment  of  a  college 


Portrait. 


'■^ 


256  The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

for  their  especial  benefit  was  publicly  announced  promises  of 
support  were  freely  made  by  men  of  other  churches ;  but, 
unfortunately,  many  of  these  promises  subsequently  failed 
to  be  redeemed. 

It  is,  perhaps,  impossible  to  determine  with  certainty 
who  was  the  first  to  propose  the  establishment  of  a  Ger- 
man college,  and  the  honor  must  be  divided  between  the 
Rev.  Drs.  Helmuth  and  H.  E.  Muhlenberg,  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  Hendel  and  Weiberg,  of  the  Reformed. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  writer  the  chief  credit  belongs  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Helmuth,  who  had  for  some  years  conducted  the 
German  department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
This  department  had  been  founded — about  1779 — by  Dr. 
Kunze,  and  when  the  latter  was  called  to  New  York,  it 
was  continued  by  Dr.  Helmuth.  It  was  not  unsuccessful, 
but  in  connection  with  an  extensive  pastoral  charge  must 
have  proved  a  heavy  burden.  Dr.  Helmuth  must  also 
have  seen  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  maintain  two  depart- 
ments in  the  University ;  one  must  increase  and  the  other 
decrease.  What  could  be  more  natural  than  that  he  should 
conceive  the  idea  that  an  institution  for  higher  education 
among  the  Germans — such  as  the  leaders  of  the  churches 
had  long  desired — would  be  more  likely  to  succeed  if 
founded  in  a  German  county  than  if  suffered  to  maintain 
a  sickly  existence  as  an  annex  to  a  large  English  in- 
stitution. 

In  founding  the  German  college  it  was  deemed  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  enlist  the  sympathy  and  cooperation 
of  eminent  men  who,  though  themselves  of  English  de- 
scent, were  best  qualified  to  appreciate  the  importance  of 
such  an  institution.  It  was  not  a  small  matter  that  they 
were  able  to  secure  the  enthusiastic  approval  of  such  men 
as  Benjamin  Franklin,   Robert  Morris,   Benjamin  Rush, 


Benjamin  Franklin. 


257 


Thomas   Mifflin,   Thomas  MacKean,  and   others,   whose 
names  adorn  the  earliest  list  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  in  1787,  the  President  of  the 
Supreme  Executive  Council  of  Pennsylvania.  He  had 
been  prominent  in  many  philanthropic  enterprises,  and 
though  he  was  now  too  old  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 


new  enterprise  it  was  hoped  that  it  might  in  some  degree 
become  a  partaker  of  his  brilliant  reputation.  That  he 
was  deeply  interested  in  the  proposed  institution  is  not  to 
be  doubted.  He  had  been  for  many  years  intimately  as- 
sociated with  the  Germans,  publishing  many  of  their  books 


258        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

and  claiming  to  be  in  a  special  sense  their  patron  and  de- 
fender. He  headed  the  subscription  for  the  endowment  of 
the  new  college  with  a  contribution  of  £200,  and  was  gen- 
erally regarded  as  its  founder. 

The  charter  of  Franklin  College  was  granted  by  the 
Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  on  the  10th  day  of  March, 
1787.  It  prescribed  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  should 
consist  of  fifteen  Lutherans,  fifteen  Reformed,  and  the  re- 
maining fifteen  "to  be  chosen  from  any  other  society  of 
Christians."  The  Legislature  granted  to  the  new  insti- 
tution ten  thousand  acres  of  land,  lying  within  the  limits 
of  the  present  counties  of  Lycoming,  Bradford,  Tioga 
and  Venango,  and  subsequently  the  public  store-house  and 
two  lots  of  ground  in  the  borough  of  Lancaster  were 
added  to  the  donation.  The  land  was,  however,  at  that 
time  almost  valueless,  and  the  store-house  demanded  ex- 
tensive repairs  before  it  could  be  used  to  advantage  for 
educational  purposes. 

The  formal  opening  of  Franklin  College  on  the  sixth  of 
June,  1787,  was  a  brilliant  occasion.  According  to  the 
published  program  there  was  a  grand  procession  in  which 
the  officers  of  the  county  and  the  pastors  of  all  the  churches 
participated.  The  Reformed  Coetus  had  appointed  its  an- 
nual meeting  at  Lancaster  at  this  time  so  as  to  be  present 
in  a  body.  Many  eminent  Philadelphians  were  present, 
and  among  them  was  Benjamin  Franklin  himself.216  Ad- 
dresses were  delivered  by  Drs.  H.  E.  Muhlenberg  and 
Joseph  Hutchins.     These   addresses  were  published  and 

216  This  fact  is  expressly  stated  by  a  French  writer,  Hector  St.  John  Creve- 
coeur,  who  says  in  his  book  of  travels  :  "  In  the  year  1787  I  accompanied  the 
venerable  Franklin,  at  that  time  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  on  a  journey  to 
Lancaster,  where  he  had  been  invited  to  lay  the  corner  stone  of  a  college  which 
he  had  founded  there  for  the  Germans."  See  Duyckinck's  "  Cyclopaedia  of 
American  Literature."  A  private  letter  is  still  extant  in  which  Franklin  indi- 
cates his  intention  of  being  present. 


German  Program.  259 

are  still  extant.217  The  program,  which  was  printed  in  Ger- 
man and  English  on  the  same  sheet,  contained  original 
hymns  in  both  languages.-13  In  brief,  the  occasion  seemed 
propitious  and  every  one  was  hopeful. 

O    V    b    it    U    It    3 

tvffd)C  111  ?(0|Tff)t  t>cr 

tyroceflion  ui:t>  6ffentlid>en  ®oru3bienfre$ 

e  t  n  id  e  i  [>  u  it  g 

granHinifcfKn  S)entfc&en  ^>ot>c  Senate, 

in  b»t  ©Mbf  urrt  ®mffif|aft 

£    a    n    c    a    fr   .c    t, 

3U  bcobdffcffrt- 
<p  &i 1 «  »«Ip  ^  ia: 

©rttucft  i«o  «Cldd)ioj  ©ttmcr,  in  ftr  <K«8<flra|T</  *«>rf<f)(n  tn  3tm(lr> 
un&  Srittrn'flraflV.     1787. 

There  was,  however,  a  little  cloud  that  might  have  been 
held  to  betoken  a  coming  storm.  The  Rev.  Joseph 
Hutchins,    pastor   of    the    Episcopal    church   of   Lancas- 

217  The  writer  has  in  his  possession  the  original  manuscript  of  the  prayer  of- 
fered by  the  Rev.  John  Herbst,  pastor  of  the  Moravian  Church.  It  contains 
an  earnest  petition  for  "  the  noble  protector  of  this  college,  His  Excellency, 
President  Benjamin  Franklin."  The  manuscript  covers  nine  4to  pages,  and 
the  prayer  must  have  been  nearly  as  long  as  an  ordinary  sermon. 

218  Two  thousand  copies  were  circulated,  but  only  two  or  three  specimens 
are  now  known  to  exist.  Professor  Hinke  has  kindly  furnished  the  title  of 
the  German  program  for  reproduction  in  this  volume. 


260        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

ter,  was  chosen  professor  of  English,  and  had  been  in- 
vited to  deliver  an  English  address.  No  doubt  he  was  a 
learned  man,  but  he  seems  to  have  lacked  a  proper  appre- 
ciation of  the  proprieties  of  the  occasion.  In  his  address 
he  not  only  inveighed  against  "ignorant  corruptions  of 
primitive  Christianity  and  traditional  prejudices  in  favour  of 
languages,  forms  and  customs " ;  but  actually  expressed 
his  disapproval  of  the  purpose  for  which  the  new  institu- 
tion was  founded.  He  said  :  "  As  the  limited  capacity  of 
man  can  very  seldom  attain  excellence  in  more  than  one 
language  the  study  of  English  will  consequently  demand 
the  principal  attention  of  your  children."  Such  words  may 
now  seem  to  have  been  very  innocent,  but  when  we  remem- 
ber that  they  were  addressed  to  men  who  were  chiefly  in- 
terested in  the  preservation  of  their  native  language,  it  is 
not  difficult  to  see  that  the  effect  of  the  address  must  have 
been  profoundly  depressing.  It  is  remarkable  that  Dr. 
Hutchins  seems  never  to  have  appreciated  the  fact  that  he 
had  made  a  mistake.  Nineteen  years  afterwards,  in  1806, 
he  published  the  address  in  pamphlet  form,  with  a  dedica- 
tion to  the  Germans  of  Lancaster — evidently  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  that  his  address  had  not  been  objectionable. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1787,  the  day  before  the  formal  open- 
ing, the  Board  of  Trustees  met  in  the  Court  House  at  Lan- 
caster and  elected  the  following  Faculty  for  Franklin 
College  : 

Rev.  G.  H.  E.  Muhlenberg,  D.D.,  President;  Rev. 
Wm.  Hendel,  D.D.,  Vice-President ;  Rev.  Frederick  W. 
Melsheimer,  Professor  of  Greek,  Latin  and  German  ;  Wil- 
liam Reichenbach,  Professor  of  Mathematics  ;  Rev.  Joseph 
Hutchins,  Professor  of  the  English  Language  and  Belles 
Lettres. 

Concerning  these  men  Dr.  B.  Rush  says,  in  an  article 


First   College  President.  261 

written  in  1787:  "  A  cluster  of  more  learned  or  better 
qualified  masters,  I  believe,  have  not  met  in  any  univer- 
sity." We  need  only  remind  the  reader  that  Muhlenberg 
was  a  celebrated  botanist ;  that  Melsheimer  has  been  called 


REV.  G.  H.  E.  MUHLENBERG. 

"the  father  of  American  entomology"  ;  and  that  Reichen- 
bach  was  a  voluminous  author. 

With  such  a  faculty,  it  may  be  supposed,  the  success  of 
the  college  ought  to  have  been  immediate  ;  and  so,  indeed, 
it  was  in  so  far  as  the  number  of  students  was  concerned. 


262        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

In  1788,  according  to  Professor  Melsheimer's  report  there 
were  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  students  of  whom  about 
twenty  received  instruction  in  the  higher  branches.  The 
chief  difficulty  was  evidently  financial.  The  rates  of  tuition 
were  very  low,  and  the  annual  receipts  were  only  £111, 
while  the  salaries  of  the  professors  amounted  to  £210, 
though  Drs.  Muhlenberg  and  Hendel  labored  without 
salary.  As  there  was  practically  no  endowment — the 
necessary  repairs  to  the  "old  store-house"  presented  by 
the  State  having  exhausted  the  available  subscriptions — 
it  did  not  not  take  long  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  the  purse. 

Almost  at  the  beginning  it  was  found  necessary  to  estab- 
lish an  English  as  well  as  a  German  department.  In  the 
college  building  the  two  departments  occupied  adjoining 
rooms  separated  by  folding-doors,  which  could  in  case  of 
necessity  be  opened  but  were  too  generally  left  closed. 
There  came  to  be  two  high-schools  instead  of  one  college. 
A  correspondent  of  the  Lancaster  Un-partheyische  Zeitung 
of  October  5,  1787,  says:  "The  English  and  Germans 
can  never  work  together.  The  one  says  Shibboleth,  the 
other  Sibboleth."219 

The  "  Fathers  "  in  Holland  did  not  like  the  project  of 
establishing  a  college,  and  addressed  some  rather  sharp 
inquiries  to  the  Coetus,  suggesting  that  it  possibly  involved 
a  declaration  of  independence.  In  its  reply  in  1790,  the 
Coetus  says  :  "The  high-school  in  Lancaster  has  already 
failed  (a  year  ago)  because  on  account  of  the  general  hard 
times  the  professors  failed  to  receive  their  salaries.  It  is 
not  our  purpose  to  separate  from  Holland.  Our  purpose  in 
founding  the  school  was  principally  to  this  end,  that  our 

219  For  further  information  on  this  subject  see  "The  Founding  of  Franklin 
College,"  Reformed  Quarterly  Review,  1887,  and  "Old  Franklin  College," 
a  paper  read  before  the  Lancaster  County  Historical  Society,  February,  1898  ; 
both  papers  by  the  present  author. 


Reply  of  Coctus.  263 

German  youth  might  be  instructed  in  the  languages  and 
sciences,  so  that  they  might  be  prepared  to  hold  offices  in 
the  republic  ;  and  that  possibly  in  later  times,  if  the  school 
should  be  firmly  established,  young  men  might  be  prepared 
for  the  ministry." 

That  the  college  had  not  fulfilled  its  original  purpose 
was  true,  and  from  this  point  of  view  it  might  be  said  to 
have  failed  ;  but  the  school  was  not  closed.  Its  patronage, 
it  is  true,  was  mainly  local,  and  it  became  an  academy 
rather  than  a  regular  college.  The  board  of  trustees 
maintained  its  organization  and  its  minutes  are  reasonably 
complete.  Professor  Melsheimer  labored  until  1798,  hop- 
ing against  hope,  but  finally  reentered  the  active  ministry. 
There  was  a  long  succession  of  eminent  teachers,  among 
whom  were  James  Ross,  author  of  a  celebrated  Latin 
grammar,  Benedict  Schipher,  co-author  with  Dr.  Muhlen- 
berg of  a  large  German  and  English  dictionary,  and  Dr.  W. 
C.  Brownlee,  afterwards  an  eminent  minister  in  New 
York.  At  a  much  later  period  we  might  mention  Professor 
Jacob  Chapman,  who  is  still  living  (1901)  at  the  age  of  one 
hundred  years,  and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  F.  A.  Muhlenberg. 

It  might  be  interesting  to  trace  the  later  history  of 
Franklin  College,  but  this  lies  beyond  our  present  purpose. 
The  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Synods,  it  is  true,  occasion- 
ally made  small  appropriations  to  the  support  of  the  in- 
stitution, but  this  seems  to  have  been  rather  to  preserve  a 
traditional  right  than  for  any  more  serious  purpose.  It 
may,  however,  be  added  that  the  lands  originally  granted 
to  the  institution  by  the  Legislature  gradually  increased  in 
value,  so  that  when  they  were  finally  sold  it  became  pos- 
sible to  establish  an  institution  of  a  higher  grade.  This 
was  accomplished  by  the  union  with  Marshall  College 
which  was  approved  by  the  Legislature  in  1850,  though 


264       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

not  actually  consummated  until  1853.  At  this  time  the 
Lutheran  interest  in  Franklin  College  was  purchased  by 
the  Reformed  Church,  and  the  institution  has  since  been 
known  as  Franklin  and  Marshall  College. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Franklin  College  was  pro- 
jected on  too  large  a  scale,  and  that  the  time  had  not  come 
for  the  establishment  of  an  important  institution  under 
German  auspices.  The  founders  had  heard  of  flourishing 
colleges  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  but  they  seem  to 
have  failed  to  remember  that — unless  largely  aided  by  the 
government — they  were  the  result  of  many  years  of  toil, 
if  not  of  suffering.  Accordingly,  when  trouble  came, 
they  lost  heart,  and  failed  to  manifest  the  continued  self- 
sacrifice  which  is  the  best  assurance  of  the  highest  suc- 
cess. Nevertheless,  to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  F.  A.  Muhlen- 
burg,  one  of  the  professors  of  Franklin  College,  "It  is  a 
high  credit  to  Lancaster  that  ever  since  the  adoption  of 
our  National  Constitution,  she  has  never  been  without  a 
school  in  which  her  sons  could  receive  the  elements  of  a 
classical  education." 

During  all  these  years  the  connection  with  Holland 
had  remained  unbroken,  but  for  many  years  it  had  ceased 
to  be  of  real  advantage  to  the  Church.  The  strict  rules  of 
the  Holland  Church  with  respect  to  ordination  had  become 
especially  oppressive  ;  and  it  came  to  be  felt  that  if  the  Re- 
formed Church  was  to  maintain  its  existence  in  America  it 
must  strike  out  for  itself,  and  determine  the  policy  of  the 
Church  according  to  its  environment.  At  last  at  the  Coetus 
held  in  Lancaster  in  1791,  it  was  resolved  that  thereafter 
it  would  simply  send  to  Holland  "  a  report  of  the  proceed- 
ings, accompanied  by  a  suitable  explanation,  as  may  be 
necessary." 

The  following  action  was  also  taken : 


THE  REFORMED  CHURCH  IN  PEiNNSYLVANI  A. 


THEOLOGIANS  OF  THE  REFORMED  CHURCH. 


WITSIUS. 

VITRINQH. 

HLSTED. 


ARETIUS. 

hyferius. 

goharus. 


Decisive  Action.  265 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Coetus  has  a  right  at  all  times  to 
examine  and  ordain  those  who  offer  themselves  as  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry,  without  asking  or  waiting  for  per- 
mission to  do  so  from  the  fathers  in  Holland."  This  was 
actually  a  declaration  of  independence,  and  it  must  have 
been  so  regarded  in  Holland,  for  to  the  letters  of  the  Coetus 
no  answer  was  returned.  The  decisive  step  had  now  been 
taken  and  it  was  not  possible  to  turn  back.  In  1792  the 
Coetus  directed  Dominies  Pomp  and  Hendel  to  prepare  a 
Synodical  constitution,  and  by  its  adoption  at  Lancaster  in 
1793  the  separation  was  completed.  The  title  adopted  on 
this  occasion  was  "  Der  Synod  der  Reformirten  Hoch- 

DEUTSCHEN  KlRCHE    IN    DEN  VEREINIGTEN    StAATEN  VON 

Amerika." 

The  Synod  was  not  ungrateful,  and  on  many  occasions 
expressed  its  continued  obligation  to  the  fatherland.  In 
its  constitution  it  expressed  its  intention  to  welcome  and 
receive  ministers  who  might  hereafter  be  sent  from  Hol- 
land. The  Church  had,  however,  been  Americanized,  and 
the  pastors  and  people  had  little  sympathy  for  European 
forms  of  government,  whether  in  church  or  state.  That 
the  leaders  in  the  Church  had  no  liking  for  royalty  appears 
in  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Dr.  Hen- 
del  to  John  Henry  Helffrich,  dated  August  21,  1793: 
"  The  condition  of  Europe  is  dreadful ;  whether  the  French 
will  be  able  to  maintain  their  republic  cannot  be  foretold. 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  united  powers  of  Europe  will  be 
able  to  conquer  them,  but  I  fear  they  will  destroy  them- 
selves. If  the  war  continues  a  while  longer  the  Palatinate 
will  suffer  greatly.  Have  we  not  every  reason  to  regard 
kings  and  princes  as  scourges  of  the  human  race,  or  at 
least  of  the  Christian  Church?  Did  not  God  give  Israel  a 
king  in  His  wrath  because  they  had  rejected  Him  ?  " 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

The  Synod. 

Synodalordnung — Hymn-books  and  Liturgies — Church  Services — Con- 
flict of  Languages — Union  Movements — Synod  of  Ohio — New  Meas- 
ures. 

<^^HE  meeting  of  the  Synod 
\^  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church  held  at  Lancaster  on 
the  27th  of  April,  1793,  may- 
be held  to  mark  the  beginning 
of  the  third  period  of  denomi- 
national history.  The  synod, 
as  then  constituted,  was  by  no 
means  large  or  imposing.  Only 
thirteen  ministers  answered  to 
their  names,  and  nine  were 
noted  as  absent,  but  the  pub- 
lished list  of  absentees  was  cer- 
tainly incomplete.  It  is  estimated  that  the  synod  repre- 
sented about  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  congregations 
and  fifteen  thousand  communicants.  Of  the  congregations 
fifty-five  are  known  to  have  been  vacant.  The  Rev.  John 
Henry  Winckhaus  was  elected  President,  and  Caspar 
Wack  was  Secretary.  William  Hendel,  D.D.,  was  by 
common  consent  the  leader  of  synod.      His  son,  William 

(266) 


HcndcVs  Hymn-book.  267 

Hendel,  Jr.,  was  ordained  in  the  same  year.  The  latter 
was  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College  and  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  New  Brunswick.  He  was  for  many  years 
prominent  in  the  Church  ;  but  though  a  man  of  high  cul- 
ture he  was  never  able  to  exert  an  influence  equal  to 
that  of  his  father.  In  the  same  year  Dr.  C.  L.  Becker  ar- 
rived in  America,221  and  in  1794  Philip  Milledoler  and  John 
Henry  Hoffmeier  were  ordained.  Thomas  Pomp  was  or- 
dained in  1795  and  Samuel  Helffenstein  in  1797.  These 
men  were  for  many  years  among  the  leaders  of  the  Re- 
formed Church. 

At  the  earliest  meeting  of  the  synod,  after  the  adoption 
of  the  Synodalordnuvg,  the  most  important  question  was 
connected  with  cultus.  The  churches  had  hitherto  gener- 
ally used  the  Marburg  Hymn-book,  either  in  European 
editions  or  in  Saur's  reprint.  This  book  had  now  become 
rare,  and  the  preparation  of  a  new  hymn-book  had  become 
an  urgent  necessity.  This  was  no  small  matter,  both  as 
regards  expense  and  the  labor  of  selection.  The  committee 
appointed  to  attend  to  this  matter  consisted  of  Hendel, 
Helffrich,  Blumer,  Wagner,  Pauli  and  Mann.  It  was  a 
good  committee  but  the  chief  labor  devolved  on  the  chair- 
man, and  the  result  was  popularly  known  as  Hendel's 
Hymn-book.  Considering  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  access 
to  hymnologic  sources,  it  was  really  an  excellent  perform- 
ance. It  was  published  in  many  editions,  each  with  a 
frontispiece  representing  David  playing  on  the  harp. 

At  the  same  meeting  Winckhaus  "  promised  to  do  some- 

221  Dr.  Christian  Ludwig  Becker  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  preachers  of 
his  day.  He  was  born  in  Anhalt  Cothen,  Germany,  Nov.  17,  1756,  and  died  at 
Baltimore,  Md.,  July  12,  1818.  In  Germany,  while  still  a  candidatus,  he 
published  "  Sammlung  Heiliger  Reden,"  Leipzig,  1790,  and  several  minor 
works.  Ordained  by  Synod  in  1794,  he  successively  served  churches  in 
Easton,  Lancaster  and  Baltimore.  Author  of  "Sammlung  Geistreicher  Pre- 
digten,"  Baltimore,  1810.    He  was  the  ancestor  of  a  long  line  of  ministers. 


268        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Sftrc&ett ■  Soflmifartet? 

fctr 

@  e  m  e  t  n  <  m 


Qermantmm? 

( Courtesy  of  Mr.  Sachse. ) 


Scarcity  of  Hymn-books.  269 

thing  towards  effecting  a  convenient  arrangement  of  the 
Catechism  "  ;  but  he  died  in  the  same  year  and  the  work  was 
not  accomplished.  Individual  ministers  soon  began  to 
issue  catechisms,  based  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  for 
use  in  their  respective  charges,  and  of  these  there  is  an 
extensive  series. 

Several  small  liturgies  dating  from  this  period  have  re- 
cently been  discovered,  but  none  of  these  was  proposed  for 
adoption  by  Synod.-"  They  appear  to  have  been  reprints 
of  European  collections  which  never  became  popular. 
Ministers  generally  used  manuscript  collections  of  uncer- 
tain origin,  which,  in  many  instances,  they  had  committed 
to  memory. 

Church  services  were  conducted  in  a  manner  which  might 
now  be  regarded  as  rather  cold  and  formal.  Ordinarily 
the  minister,  after  standing  for  a  few  minutes  at  the  altar, 
holding  his  hat  before  his  face  engaged  in  silent  worship, 
ascended  the  pulpit  and  announced  the  hymn.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  scarcity  of  hymn-books,  it  became  usual 
to  announce  each  successive  line,  and  by  this  mechanical 
arrangement  much  of  the  power  of  the  ancient  chorals  was 
lost.  The  opening  prayer  was  long  and  argumentative, 
and  the  sermon  was  expected  to  be  at  least  an  hour  in 
length.  During  the  singing  of  the  second  hymn  the  col- 
lection was  gathered  by  means  of  alms-bags  attached  to 
long  poles  and  with  little  bells  tinkling  beneath.  Some- 
times a  second  collection  was  taken  up  at  the  door  of  the 
church  for  some  special  purpose.  In  such  cases  the  first 
collection  was  known  as  Almosen  and  the  second  as  O-pfer- 
geld.     At  confirmation  and  communion  seasons  the   ser- 

222  "Liturgien  zum  Gebrauch  der  evang.  reform.  Gemeinen,"  1793,  pp.  85. 
(No  name  of  printer  or  place.) 

"Kirchen  Formularien  der  Evangelisch-Reformirten  Gemeinen."  German- 
town.     Gedruckt  bey  Michael  Billmeyer,  1798,  pp.  60. 


270       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

vices  were  more  elaborate.  Before  their  confirmation  the 
catechumens  formed  a  procession  at  the  neighboring  school- 
house — the  boys  dressed  in  new  suits  and  the  girls  wearing 
linen  caps — and  were  then  led  to  the  church  by  the  minis- 
ter, to  be  examined  on  the  Catechism  and  admitted  to  full 
membership  by  the  laying  on  of  hands.  In  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Lord's  Supper  the  Palatinate  Liturgy  was 
generally  employed.  In  the  church  of  which  the  writer 
was  in  his  boyhood  a  member  the  communicants  approached 
and  withdrew  from  the  altar  with  a  profound  bow  or  cour- 
tesy. 

Early  in   the  nineteenth  century  it  appeared  that  great 
changes  were  imminent.       In  certain  localities  the  Eng- 


glish  language  was  rapidly  making  its  way,  and  the  ancient 
German  customs  which  the  fathers  had  loved  were  by  the 
children  regarded  as  antiquated  and  objectionable.  The 
movement  for  the  introduction  of  English  services  began 
in  New  Jersey,  though  it  is  believed  that  there  had  been 
occasional  English  preaching  in  the  Reformed  church  of 
Germantown,  Penna.,  at  a  somewhat  earlier  period. 

It  was  in  the  Race  Street  church,  Philadelphia,  that  the 
conflict  concerning  language  first  became  intense.  Rev. 
Samuel  Helffenstein  was,  from  1799  to  1831,  pastor  of  that 
church.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  ability  and  of 
great  personal  dignity,  but  was  at  times  almost  helpless  in 
the  midst  of  the  storm.  He  could  preach  English  well, 
but  loved  the  German  language  best.  The  synod,  to  which 
the  questions  at  issue  were  referred  in  1804,  adopted  non- 


THE    REFORHED   CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


REV.    HENRY    BIB1QHAUS. 


Conflicts  in  the  Church.  271 

committal  resolutions  which  pleased  neither  party.  At  first 
Dr.  Helffenstein  supported  the  Germans  and  the  strictly 
English  party  withdrew  and  founded  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  on  Crown  Street.  Another  English  party  was 
gradually  formed,  and  in  1S17  the  conflict  began  anew. 
This  English  party  finally  secured  the  majority,  and  then 
the  Germans  withdrew  and  founded  a  church  on  St.  John 
Street  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  F.  W.  Van  der  Sloot, 
Dr.   Helffenstein    preaching  English   in   the  old   church. 


4 


e^-*-*-^ 


Of  the  German  church  Rev.  Henry  Bibighaus,  D.D.,  was 
subsequently  pastor  for  many  }^ears.223 

This  is  but  a  specimen  of  conflicts  which  occurred  all 
over  the  Church,  especially  in  the  cities  and  larger  towns. 
In  country  churches  the  change  in  language  was  more 
gradual  and  naturally  caused  less  excitement.  It  has  been 
common  to  blame  the  fathers  for  their  close  attachment  to 
their  native  language — and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Reformed  Church  in  this  struggle  lost  many  thousands  of 
members ;  but  who  can  condemn  a  people  for  attachment 
to  its  native  tongue?  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  many 
instances  both  parties  were  greatly  to  blame  for  violence 
and  imprudence. 

To  the  older  pastors  the  change  of  language  presented 
peculiar  difficulties.  They  not  only  foresaw  the  time  when 
they  would  be  supplanted  by  ministers  of  different  speech 
and  manners,  but  the  question  naturally  suggested  itself, 
that  it  might  not  be  worth  while  to  maintain  the  German 


223  Henry  Bibighaus  was  born  in  Bucks  County,  Pa.,  Aug.  2,  1777,  and  died 
in  Philadelphia,  Aug.  20,  1851.  He  was  at  first  organist  of  the  Race  Street 
church  and  was  prepared  for  the  ministry  by  Dr.  Helffenstein. 


272        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Reformed  Church  as  a  separate  body  when  its  distinguish- 
ing speech  and  customs  were  so  rapidly  passing  away. 
The  "denominational  consciousness"  had  not  yet  been 
developed,  and  it  was,  indeed,  a  serious  question  whether 
the  circumstances  warranted  a  separate  organization. 

For  some  years  the  advisability  of  union  with  some  other 
denomination  was  extensively  debated.  Historically  it 
might  have  seemed  most  natural  to  unite  with  the  Dutch 
Church,  but  here  the  difference  of  language  proved  a  seri- 
ous obstacle.  There  had  for  many  years  been  an  inter- 
mittent correspondence  between  the  two  churches,  and 
their  relations  had  always  been  most  cordial ;  but  the  "  Low 
Dutch,"  as  they  were  generally  called,  had  already  be- 
come prevailingly  English,  and  the  German  pastors  natur- 
ally feared  that  organic  union  would  but  hasten  the  change 
of  language  which  some  of  them  so  greatly  dreaded. 

Union  with  the  Lutheran  Church  appeared  to  be  in  some 
respects  far  more  desirable.  The  two  churches  had  for 
many  years  labored  side  by  side,  and  their  relations  had 
always  been  cordial.  The  old  doctrinal  distinctions  had 
in  great  measure  passed  into  the  background,  and  in  ex- 
tensive regions  so-called  Union  churches  brought  pastors 
and  people  into  the  most  intimate  personal  relations.  The 
two  denominations  generally  used  the  same  language,  and 
were  confronted  by  the  same  practical  questions.  When, 
in  1817,  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  Churches  were  in 
Prussia  united  by  the  establishment  of  the  Evangelical 
Church-Union,  it  was  but  natural  that  renewed  attention 
should  be  called  to  the  possibility  of  forming  a  similar 
union  in  America,  and  for  some  years  there  were  frequent 
deliberations  on  this  general  subject.  In  1817  the  Lutheran 
Ministerium  invited  the  Reformed  Synod  to  unite  in  the 
common  celebration  of   the  festival  of  the  Reformation, 


Church-Union.  273 

and  in  the  following  year  proposed  a  plan  for  a  joint  theo- 
logical seminary  in  connection  with  Franklin  College. 
The  Reformed  Synod,  on  the  other  hand,  recommended 
Dr.  Helmuth's  Evangelisches  Magazin,  and  in  various  other 
ways  manifested  its  unionistic  tendency.  A  union  hymn- 
book — entitled  "  Gemeinschaftliches  Gesangbuch  " — was 
prepared  by  irresponsible  parties,  and  extensively  circulated 
in  both  churches.  After  many  consultations  this  particular 
union  movement  failed  in  1824,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
not  probable  that  all  the  churches  of  both  denominations 
would  enter  into  the  proposed  union,  and  that  the  result 
might  be  to  introduce  a  new  denomination  without  decreas- 
ing the  number  already  in  existence.  Personally,  the 
writer  has  always  believed  that  the  Union  churches,  which 
had  become  so  numerous,  rather  hindered  than  promoted 
organic  union.  In  many  places,  where  two  ministers  oc- 
cupied the  same  field  and  preached  in  the  same  churches, 
the  removal  of  ancient  denominational  distinctions  might 
have  rendered  one  of  the  pastors  superfluous  ;  or  it  would, 
at  any  rate,  have  so  disturbed  existing  conditions  in  such 
a  way  as  to  lead  to  many  local  difficulties.  Many  pastors, 
therefore,  preferred  to  suffer  things  to  remain  as  they 
were. 

In  the  meantime  the  condition  of  the  Reformed  Church 
was  far  from  encouraging.  Unable  to  secure  pastors  of 
their  own  denomination  who  could  preach  acceptably  in 
English,  prominent  city  congregations  invited  ministers  of 
other  denominations  to  supply  their  pulpits,  and  through 
their  influence  the  people  became  estranged  from  their 
proper  standards.  Candidates  for  the  ministry  were  few 
in  number,  and  the  instruction  which  they  received  from 
older  ministers  was  lamentably  insufficient.  Many  con- 
gregations were  vacant  and  naturally  became  the  prey  of 


274       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

the  sects  which  were  then  coming  into  existence.  How 
the  leaders  of  the  Church  were  able  to  maintain  faith  and 
hope  under  such  depressing  conditions  is  almost  incon- 
ceivable. 

Here  and  there  might,  however,  be  discovered  indica- 
tions of  a  new  life.  As  early  as  1806  a  Sunday-school 
was  established  in  the  Reformed  church  of  Philadelphia, 
and  a  few  years  later  similar  schools  had  been  founded  in 
many  towns  and  villages.  Many  people  were  prejudiced 
against  these  organizations  on  account  of  their  supposed 
antagonism  to  the  catechetical  system  ;  but  they  made  their 
way  and  accomplished  much  good. 

Notwithstanding  these  depressing  conditions  the  Re- 
formed Church  was  gradually  extending  its  limits.  The 
work  which  was  begun  by  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Weber  became 
the  nucleus  of  the  Church  beyond  the  Alleghenies.  Rev. 
Nicholas  P.  Hacke,  D.D.  (1800-1878),  became  pastor  of 
the  Greensburg  charge  in  1819  and  served  it  faithfully  for 
59  years.  In  later  years  he  held  a  sort  of  patriarchal 
relation  to  the  Reformed  churches  of  all  that  region. 
Jost  Henry  Fries  (1777-1839)  labored  in  an  extensive  region 
near  the  geographical  center  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a 
worthy  man  but  very  eccentric,  and  even  in  the  pulpit  his 
humor  occasionally  could  not  be  restrained.224  In  Ohio  the 
Rev.  Jacob  Christman  began  to  preach  in  Warren  County 
in  1803,  and  in  1804  the  Rev.  John  Jacob  Larose  be- 
gan his  extensive  missionary  journeys.     In  1816  the  Rev. 


224  The  writer  has  a  copy  of  a  published  sermon  preached  by  Fries  in  the 
Elias  church  at  Youngmanstown  on  the  ioth  of  September,  1812.  The  first  part 
of  the  discourse  is  very  learned  and  dignified,  as  was  no  doubt  supposed  to  befit 
the  occasion  ;  but  in  the  conclusion  the  preacher  breaks  forth  in  extravagant 
praise  of  Governor  Simon  Snyder,  at  the  same  time  expressing  his  disapproval 
of  certain  people  who  had  greeted  his  nomination  with  the  derisive  shout  : 
"  Ho  !  Ho  !  A  Governor  from  '  Shimoky.'  " 


Formation  of  Synod  of  Ohio.  275 

John  William  Dechant  was  sent  to  Ohio  by  Synod,  and 
did  excellent  work. 

To  relate  the  history  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
Western  States  does  not  come  within  our  present  purpose. 
It  may,  however,  be  proper  to  state  that  this  history  in 
many  respects  presents  a  curious  analogy  to  that  of  the 
Church  in  Pennsylvania.  The  growth  of  the  Church  was 
not  rapid,  but  in  1819,  when  the  Synod  was  divided  into 
classes,  it  became  possible  to  organize  a  Classis  of  Ohio, 
consisting  of  five  ministers  and  about  fifty  congregations. 
In  1823  the  Synod  of  the  United  States  refused  to  grant 
to  classes  the  privilege  of  ordaining  ministers,  and  against 
this  action  the  Classis  of  Ohio  protested  on  the  ground  that 
they  could  not  afford  to  send  their  candidates  "  across  the 
mountains."  Accordingly,  at  its  meeting  in  New  Phila- 
delphia, O.,  June  14,  1824,  the  Classis  of  Ohio  resolved 
itself  into  a  Synod,  and  for  nearly  forty  years  remained 
independent  of  the  parent  body.  The  two  Synods  ex- 
changed delegates,  and  worked  together  with  a  consider- 
able degree  of  harmony,  but  there  was  no  organic  union. 
The  Synod  of  Ohio,  however,  in  due  time,  became  the 
mother  of  several  other  western  synods. 

About  1820  a  wave  of  religious  excitement  swept  over 
the  land.  Its  effects  were  not  limited  to  a  single  denom- 
ination, and  there  was  hardly  a  town  or  village  that  was 
not  shaken,  as  if  by  a  great  convulsion.  The  methods 
employed  to  promote  a  general  awakening  of  the  religious 
consciousness  were  known  as  "  new  measures,"  and  many 
pastors  suffered  themselves  to  be  led  into  undeniable  ex- 
travagances, so  that  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  ancient 
landmarks  would  be  entirely  swept  away.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  much  good  was  accomplished,  though  in 
many  instances  in   an  irregular  and  spasmodic  way.      It 


276        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

was,  we  think,  a  natural  reaction  from  the  coldness  and 
formality  into  which  the  churches  had  fallen  ;  and  in  its 
best  aspects  it  led  to  the  establishment  of  theological  and 
literary  institutions,  and  of  societies  for  the  promotion  of 
missions,  and  of  other  enterprises  of  Christian  benevolence. 
It  is  not  surprising,  however,  that  the  instinct  of  conserva- 
tism induced  many  people  to  regard  the  whole  movement 
with  suspicion,  and  to  confound  genuine  progress  with  un- 
reasoning fanaticism. 

For  the  Reformed  Church,  this  was  a  period  of  unde- 
niable danger.  The  older  pastors  were  passing  away,  and 
those  who  remained  found  it  difficult  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  new  conditions.  Fortunately  there  was  a 
little  company  of  ministers  and  laymen  who  believed  that 
the  Reformed  Church  had  a  special  testimony  to  offer — a 
peculiar  mission  to  fulfill — and  to  these  faithful  men  the 
honor  of  inaugurating  a  brighter  era  is  mainly  due. 


H 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Founding  of  Institutions. 

The  Theological  Seminary— Dr.  Milledoler— The  Free  Synod— At  Car- 
lisle— Dr.  Lewis  Mayer — Mr.  Reily  in  Europe— The  Seminary  in  York. 

T  the  meeting  of  Synod 
convened  in  Hagerstown, 
Md.,  in  September,  1820,  it  was 
resolved  to  establish  a  theolog- 
ical seminary.  This  action  was 
the  result  of  long  deliberation, 
and  was  taken  only  when  it 
became  evident  that  no  other 
course  was  possible  if  the  sepa- 
rate organization  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  was  to  be  main- 
tained. When  the  plan  for  the 
new  institution  had  once  been  adopted  the  members  of  the 
Synod  were  full  of  rejoicing.  Indeed,  they  seem  to  have 
anticipated  no  possible  difficulties,  and  at  once  took  addi- 
tional'action  which  seemed  to  indicate  that  they  regarded 
the  whole  matter  as  settled  and  complete.  The  following 
resolution  must  be  regarded  as  at  least  premature  : 

"Resolved:  That  no  minister  shall  hereafter  have  the 
privilege  of  receiving  a  young  man  in  order  to  instruct  him  in 
theology,  but  may  only  direct  him  in  his  preliminary  stud- 
ies."  The  wisdom  of  this  action  might  at  any  time  have  been 

(277) 


278        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

questioned,  but  under  the  circumstances  it  could  not  fail  to 
excite  antagonism,  especially  on  the  part  of  ministers  who 
were  engaged  in  instructing  candidates  for  the  ministry.  A 
Board  of  Superintendents  was  chosen,  consisting  of  Caspar 


-  _    -  - 


OI.D  COURT  HOUSB  AT  YORK,   PA. 


Philip  Millcdoler.  279 

Wack,  William  Hendel,  Jr.,  Lebrecht  L.  Hinsch,  Samuel 
Helffenstein,  Thomas  Pomp,  Jonathan  Helffenstein,  Fred- 
erick Rahauser,  J.  Christian  Becker,  Lewis  Mayer,  James 
R.  Reily,  Albert  Helffenstein,  and  John  S.  Ebaugh.  These 
men  may  be  regarded  as  the  founders  of  the  theological 
seminary,  though  they  were  afterward  effectively  aided  by 
men  who  were  not  included  in  this  preliminary  list. 

Immediately  after  the  constitution  of  this  Board  the 
Synod  proceeded  to  elect  a  professor  of  theology,  and  Rev. 
Philip  Milledoler,  D.D.,225  of  New  York,  was  unanimously 
chosen.  At  the  same  time  his  salary  was  fixed  at  two 
thousand  dollars  per  annum,  which  was  regarded  as  a  very 
liberal  compensation.  It  was,  however,  believed  on  suffi- 
cient grounds  that  if  Dr.  Milledoler  accepted  the  call  his 
professorship  would  be  fully  endowed  through  the  liberal- 
ity of   his  friends  in  New  York. 

The  appointment  of  Dr.  Milledoler  was  greeted  with  en- 
thusiasm, especially  in  Maryland  and  southern  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  182 1  Dr.  Mayer  reported  that  a  capital  of 
about  $30,000  was  "  in  sight,"  and  even  ventured  to  anti- 
cipate that  the  income  of  the  Seminary  endowment  would 
soon  afford  a  surplus  that  could  be  applied  to  missions. 
A  number  of  ministers  pledged  themselves  to  collect  or 
contribute  considerable  sums.  Among  others  the  Rev. 
John  Weinbrenner — who  subsequently  left  the  Church  and 
became  the  founder  of  the  "  Church  of  God  " — pledged 
himself  to  contribute  $200  annually  for  ten  years. 

Unfortunately  most  of  these  subscriptions  were  made  on 


225  Philip  Milledoler,  born  at  Rhinebeek,  N.  Y.,  September  22,  1775  ;  died, 
Staten  Island,  N.  Y.,  September  23,  1852.  Graduated  in  Columbia  College, 
J793-  Pastor  German  Reformed  Church,  New  York,  1794-1800  ;  Pine  Street 
(Presbyterian)  Church,  Philadelphia,  1800-1805  ;  Rutgers  Street  (Presbyterian) 
Church,  New  York,  1805-181;?  Moderator  of  General  Assembly,  Presbyterian 
Church,  1808;  Collegiate  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church,  1813-1825.  Professor  of 
Theology  at  New  Brunswick  and  President  of  Rutgers  College,  1825-1840. 


280        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  Stales. 

the  condition  that  Dr.  Milledoler  should  become  the  first 
professor  ;  for  it  was  freely  said  that  "  wherever  Dr.  Mille- 
doler went  the  New  York  endowment  would  certainly  fol- 
low." He  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  influence,  and 
if  he  had  accepted  the  position  all  might  have  been  well, 
but  he  found  it  difficult  to  "reach  a  final  conclusion.  At  first 
he  accepted  the  call,  but  soon  afterward  withdrew  his  ac- 
ceptance for  further  consideration.  For  two  years  he  left 
the  German  Synod  under  the  impression  that  he  would  ac- 
cept their  call,  but  at  last  he  declined  it  and  became  pro- 
fessor of  theology  at  New  Brunswick.  No  doubt  his  final 
decision  was  greatly  influenced  by  disagreements  which 
had  now  become  apparent  in  the  German  Church ;  but  his 
dilatory  course  cannot  be  approved.  The  enthusiasm  of 
the  Church  had  somewhat  declined  and  her  great  enemy 
had  done  much  evil  work  before  Dr.  Milledoler  finally 
declined  the  call.  Of  course,  when  this  occurred  all  the 
conditional  subscriptions  became  valueless  and  the  fact  was 
recognized  that  the  first  effort  to  establish  a  theological 
seminary  had  proved  a  failure. 

Though  the  synod  was  greatly  discouraged,  there  was 
no  disposition  to  retire  from  the  work  which  it  had  under- 
taken. It  had  at  first  been  resolved  to  establish  the  semi- 
nary at  Frederick,  Md.,  but  the  fact  was  now  recognized 
that  this  place  was  too  far  distant  from  the  center  of  the 
Church.  In  1822  the  synod  met  in  Harrisburg,  Penna., 
and  here  it  occurred  to  some  one  that  the  capital  of  the 
State  would  be  an  ideal  place  for  the  theological  seminary. 
The  Rev.  John  Weinbrenner  was  pastor  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Harrisburg  and  of  several  other  churches  in  its 
vicinity.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  talent,  possessing 
unusual  oratorical  ability.  He  had,  however,  recently 
become  an  enthusiastic  advocate  of  "  New  Measures,"  and 


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Proposed  Seminary  in  Harrisburg.  281 

some  of  his  members  had  become  dissatisfied.  The  synod, 
it  seems,  was  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  better  for 
Mr.  Weinbrenner  to  seek  another  field  of  labor ;  and  the 
consistory  of  the  church  was  evidently  of  the  same  opinion, 
for  they  expressed  their  willingness  to  accept  as  their  pas- 
tor the  professor  of  theology  who  might  be  elected  by  synod, 
at  the  same  time  pledging  themselves  to  contribute  $500  an- 
nually to  his  support.  This  seemed  a  beautiful  plan  ;  but  it 
was  objectionable  on  the  ground  that  it  interfered  with  ex- 
isting pastoral  relations.  Mr.  Weinbrenner  asked  time  for 
consideration  and  no  final  action  was  taken.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  hevacated  the  pulpit,  but  it  maybe  taken  for  granted 
that  he  was  displeased.  His  position  towards  synod  gradu- 
ally became  antagonistic.  He  became  the  founder  of  a  new 
denomination,  holding  certain  doctrines  which  were  not  in 
harmony  with  those  of  the  Reformed  Church,  and  in  1828 
his  name  was  erased  from  the  list  of  members  of  synod. 

At  the  meeting  of  synod  held  in  Baltimore,  in  1823,  the 
resolution  to  establish  a  theological  seminary  in  Harrisburg 
was  renewed,  and  an  election  for  the  professorate  was  im- 
mediately held.  At  the  first  ballot  the  votes  were  equally 
divided  between  three  candidates  :  Drs.  Samuel  Helffen- 
stein,226  J.  C.  Becker227  and  Lewis  Mayer.228  Dr.  Mayer 
then  withdrew  his  name  and  Dr.  Helffenstein  was  chosen. 


226  Samuel  Helffenstein,  eldest  son  of  J.  C.  Albertus,  born  at  Germantown, 
Pa.,  May  17,  1775  ;  died,  North  Wales,  Pa.,  October  17,  1866.  Pastor  in  Phila- 
delphia, 1799-1831.    Author  of  "  Didactic  Theology,"  and  a  volume  of  poems. 

227  Jacob  Christian  Becker,  son  of  Dr.  Christian  Ludwig,  born  at  Bremen, 
Germany,  January  14,  1790;  died,  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  August  18,  1858.  A  very 
influential  pastor  in  Northampton  County,  Pennsylvania. 

228  Lewis  Mayer  was  born  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  March  26,  1783  ;  died  at  York 
Pa.,  August  25,  1849.  Studied  in  the  college  at  Frederick,  Md.,  and  was  pri- 
vately instructed  in  theology  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Wagner.  Licensed  in  1807 
and  ordained  in  1808.  Pastor,  Shepherdstown,  Va.,  1808-21  ;  York,  Pa.,  1821-25. 
Professor  in  theological  seminary,  1825-37.  Author  of  "Sin  Against  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  "Lectures  on  Scriptural  Subjects,"  "History  of  German  Re- 
formed Church,"  Vol.  I.,  and  many  pamphlets.  See  Biography  by  Dr.  E. 
Heiner  prefixed  to  "  History."    Also  Harbaugh's  "  Lives,"  Vol.  III. 


282       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

The  church  in  Harrisburg  was  now  in  a  ferment  in  con- 
sequence of  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Weinbrenner,  and  the 
plan  for  the  establishment  of  a  seminary  at  that  place  fell 
to  the  ground.  Dr.  Helffenstein  declined  the  call  and  the 
second  effort  proved  a  failure. 

In  the  meantime  there  was  great  trouble  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Church.  It  was  partly  derived  from  misunder- 
standings of  the  purpose  of  the  seminary  movement,  but 
also  involved  personal  elements  which  were  by  no  means 
creditable  to  the  Church.     Dr.  F.  L.  Herman — one  of  the 


<0^/tt-££?Z. 


last  of  the  missionaries  sent  to  America  by  the  Church  of 
Holland — had  for  many  years  instructed  candidates  for  the 
ministry.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  learning  and 
ability,  and  was  careful  and  conscientious  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  students.  As  he  lived  at  Falkner  Swamp  the 
school  which  he  conducted  was  popularly  known  as  "The 
Swamp  College."  He  instructed  his  six  sons — of  whom 
five  became  ministers — and  among  his  students  were 
such  men  as  B.  S.  Schneck,  T.  H.  Leinbach,  J.  S. 
Dubbs,  Richard  and  Peter  S.  Fisher,  and  others.  Unfor- 
tunately Dr.  Herman's  son,  Frederick,  became  dissipated 
and  was  in  1821  suspended  by  synod.  There  was  no 
question  as  to  the  justice  of  the  sentence,  but  it  was  com- 
municated to  the  afflicted  father  in  terms  which  proved 
harsh  and  offensive.  When  the  latter  inquired  as  to  the 
significance  of  suspension,  President  Hinsch  replied  :  "  In 
this  case  it  means  exclusion  forever" — "  In  diescm  Fallc 


Free  Synods.  283 

heisst  das  auf  immer  und  eivig  atisgeschlossen."  After  this 
utterance  Dr.  Herman  withdrew  from  the  meeting,  accom- 
panied by  his  students,  his  son-in-law,  Rev.  J.  C.  Guldin 
and  the  Rev.  Henry  Diffenbach,  for  which  act  they  were 
severely  censured  by  resolution.  These  men  founded  in 
1822  the  "Synod  of  Pennsylvania  and  Adjacent  States," 
which  was  generally  known  as  the  "  Free  Synod." 

The  new  organization  did  not  declare  itself  opposed  to 
theological  seminaries,  as  has  been  generally  supposed, 
and,  indeed,  at  one  time  it  proposed  to  establish  an  institu- 
tion of  its  own.  Dr.  Herman  personally  based  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  seminary  of  the  old  synod  on  its  proposed  loca- 
tion at  Frederick,  Md.,  but  his  son,  Frederick,  Jr., 
embraced  the  opportunity  to  play  the  part  of  a  demagogue, 
and  the  result  was  a  popular  convulsion  that  for  a  time 
threatened  the  very  existence  of  the  Church.  Conventions 
were  held  in  various  places  at  which  fiery  resolutions  were 
adopted,  declaring  unalterable  opposition  to  all  forms  of 
"  priestcraft."  The  old  spirit  of  independence  was  revived 
and  congregations  pledged  themselves  not  to  "  employ  "  a 
minister  who  stood  in  connection  with  a  synod.  Carl  Gock, 
a  German  schoolmaster  in  Albany  Township,  Berks  County, 
published  two  books229  against  synods,  and  in  fact  against 
ministers  generally.  Though  these  books  manifested  no 
literary  ability,  their  tone  was  exceedingly  bitter,  and  they 
were  well  qualified  to  excite  ignorant  people.  A  reply  was 
published  by  J.  C.  Gossler,230  but  it  was  a  weak  perform- 
ance.231   After  a  few  years  the  popular  excitement  subsided, 

229  "Die  Vertheidigung  der  Freyen  Kirche,"  Reading,  1822;  "  Fortsetzung 
der  Vertheidigung, "  no  place,  1830. 

230  "Carl  Gock's  Verlaumdungen,  oder  die  Rechtfertigung  der  hoch-deut- 
schen  Lutherischen  und  Reformirten  Synoden,"  Reading,  1823. 

231  Carl  Gock  was  a  local  politician  and  for  twenty  years  a  regular  delegate 
to  the  county  convention.  As  long  as  the  nominees  were  chosen  by  secret 
ballot  Gock  conducted  a  prosperous  business  by  secretly  selling  his  vote  to  all 


284        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

but  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  its  effect  was  permanently 
injurious  to  many  of  the  churches  of  eastern  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

In  the  midst  of  the  prevailing  excitement  the  Free  Synod 
was  placed  in  a  peculiarly  unfortunate  position.  The  elder 
members  did  not  approve  of  the  prevailing  radicalism,  and 
the  younger  ones — who  had  no  personal  grievances — soon 
felt  that  their  synod  had  no  apparent  mission.  Externally 
the  schism  appeared  to  prosper,  for  it  included  more  than 
a  hundred  congregations,  among  which  were  churches  in 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  Allentown,  Carlisle,  and  other 
important  places.  It  was,  however,  a  wise  action  when 
the  Free  Synod  at  its  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  in  1836, 
resolved  to  take  measures  looking  towards  reunion  with 
the  old  synod.  The  latter  body  was  no  less  wise  when, 
at  Baltimore  in  the  same  year,  it  resolved  to  admit  the 
seceders  without  conditions,  at  the  same  time  adopting  a 
minute  expressive  of  "  sincere  joy  at  the  prospect  of  a  union 
so  essential  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Church."  The  Free 
Synod  held  one  more  meeting,  at  Pottstown,  in  1837,  where 
the  proposed  plan  was  ratified,  and  thus  a  threatening 
schism  was  finally  healed.232     The  leading  members  of  the 

the  candidates  and  then  voting-  as  he  pleased.  At  last  it  was  resolved  to  vote 
viva  voce,  and  as  Gock  had  already  given  his  promise  to  three  candidates  and 
received  pay  "  for  value  received,"  he  found  himself  "  unable  to  deliver  the 
goods."  Of  course  he  lost  the  confidence  of  his  constituents,  and  was  never 
afterwards  chosen  a  delegate  from  Albany  Township.  His  last  years  were  spent 
in  the  Berks  County  almshouse,  where  he  was  visited  in  1863  by  Dr.  Harbaugh. 
Even  then  he  rejoiced  that  he  had  written  his  books,  and  believed  that  he  had 
prevented  the  clergy  from  becoming  "the  masters  of  the  land."  For  an  inter- 
esting account  of  Dr.  Harbaugh's  interview  with  Gock  see  The  Guardian,  for 
August,  1863,  p.  256. 

232  An  organization  composed  in  part  of  former  members  of  the  Free  Synod 
maintained  a  weak  existence  for  some  years  in  central  Pennsylvania.  It  was 
called  the  Independent  Synod,  but  was  more  generally  known  as  the  "  Stiely 
Synod,"  from  the  prominence  of  the  brothers  Isaac  and  Philip  Stiely  in  its 
organization.  Among  its  members,  it  is  said,  there  were  "  independents  "  of 
several  denominations.  Of  course,  this  synod  exerted  little  influence,  and 
naturally  soon  went  to  pieces. 


Carlisle.  285 

schismatic  body  became  in  later  years  enthusiastic  sup- 
porters of  the  institutions  of  the  Church. 

The  Seminary  at  Carlisle. — After  two  failures  to 
establish  a  theological  seminary  the  Church  was  naturally 
discouraged.  A  proposition  was,  however,  laid  before  the 
Synod  convened  at  Bedford,  in  1824,  which  seemed  to  af- 
ford a  prospect  of  better  things.  Dickinson  College — 
founded  in  1783,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church — had  for  several  years  declined  in  numbers  and 
influence,  chiefly  in  consequence  of  the  establishment  of 
other  Presbvterian  institutions,  and  it  now  occurred  to  the 
President,  Dr.  Cathcart,  that  the  college  might  be 
strengthened  by  an  alliance  with  the  proposed  theological 
seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church.  An  invitation  was  ac- 
cordingly extended  to  the  Reformed  Synod  to  establish  its 
seminary  in  Carlisle,  the  professor  of  theology  assuming 
the  position  of  professor  of  history  and  German  in  Dickin- 
son College.  The  college,  on  its  part,  pledged  itself,  in 
consideration  of  such  service,  to  provide  a  recitation  room 
for  theological  teaching,  and  in  due  time  to  transfer  to  the 
Reformed  Synod  a  part  of  the  college  campus  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  seminary  building.  Seminary  students  were  to 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  instruction  in  the  college,  and  the 
use  of  the  libraries,  free  of  charge.  The  plan  looked 
well,  and  we  are  not  surprised  that  it  was  approved  by  the 
Reformed  Synod,  though  Hinsch — the  leading  representa- 
tive of  the  uncompromising  Germans — placed  on  record  a 
report  which  made  it  appear  that  the  main  purpose  of  the 
theological  seminary  was  to  be  the  preservation  of  German 
life  and  literature.  It  was  resolved  by  the  Synod  that  the 
call  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Helffenstein  should  be  renewed, 
and  that  in  case  of  his  declination  it  should  be  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Lewis  Mayer,  then   pastor  of  the  Reformed 


286       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Church  in  York.  Once  more  Dr.  Helffenstein  declined, 
and  Dr.  Mayer  accepted  the  call.  The  theological  semi- 
nary was  opened  in  Carlisle  with  a  class  of  five  students, 
March  ii,  1825.  In  a  letter  in  the  possession  of  the  au- 
thor, written  many  years  afterwards,  Dr.  Mayer  says : 
"  When  I  accepted  that  call  the  prospect  of  establishing  a 
seminary  was   so  dark   and  discouraging  that  no  brother 


OL-e<W    tylLciA., 


whose  situation  at  the  time  was  pleasant  could  have  been 
induced  to  accept  the  professorship.  I  gave  up  a  cer- 
tainty for  an  uncertainty,  relinquished  a  better  living  and 
subjected  myself  to  a  series  of  untried  labors,  resolved,  at 
the  hazard  of  all  that  I  held  dear,  if  it  were  the  will  of 
God,  to  make  the  effort  to  lay  the  foundation  of  an  institu- 
tion which  I  hoped  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  Church  for 
ages  to  come." 

Dr.  Mayer  was  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  man. 
Though  of  a  prominent  family,  his  early  educational  ad- 
vantages had  been  limited,  and  his  subsequent  attainments 
are,  therefore,  a  source  of  constant  surprise.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  he  possessed  mental  powers  of  a  high 
order,  conjoined  with  unremitting  and  life-long  industry. 
Dr.  Schaff  calls  him  "  a  man  of  reverent  and  devout  char- 
acter, clear  and  temperate  judgment  and  profound  learn- 
ing."233 The  same  writer,  however,  deems  it  necessary  to 
add  that  Dr.  Mayer  seems  to  have  derived  from  De  Wette 
and  other  contemporary  German  theologians  certain  views 
which  were  regarded  as  deviating  from  the  strict  ortho- 
doxy of  the  times.     We  now  appreciate  the  fact  that  these 

233  "  Kirchenfreund,"  October,  1849. 


Lewis   Mayer.  287 

were  minor  matters  which  did  not  affect  the  thinking  of 
his  students  to  any  appreciable  extent,  but  in  his  later  life 
they  were  made  the  ground  of  violent  personal  opposition. 

The  extent  of  Dr.  Mayer's  attainments  is  plainly  indi- 
cated by  his  manuscripts.  With  the  German  and  English 
languages  he  had  become  accurately  familiar  at  an  early 
age,  and  his  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin  was,  for  the 
time,  remarkable.  He  had  mastered  the  Dutch  language 
and  had  some  acquaintance  with  French.  The  natural 
sciences  he  studied  with  energy  and  enthusiasm.  At  a 
time  when  few  appreciated  the  value  of  such  things 
he  laboriously  gathered  and  transcribed  ancient  docu- 
ments, and  planned  on  a  large  scale  a  "  History  of  the 
Reformed  Church"  of  which  but  a  single  volume  has  ap- 
peared. It  must,  perhaps,  be  confessed  that  in  his  histor- 
ical writings  he  lacked  a  certain  sense  of  proportion  which 
might  have  enabled  him  to  accomplish  his  work  without 
the  unnecessary  accumulation  of  details. 

The  arrangement  with  Dickinson  College  did  not  prove 
satisfactory.  The  financial  difficulties  of  the  institution  in- 
creased, and  the  students  manifested  no  desire  to  study  the 
German  language.  For  some  time  Dr.  Mayer  lectured  to 
his  students  in  the  old  Reformed  church  of  Carlisle,  but 
here  even  greater  difficulties  presented  themselves. 

The  Rev.  John  S.  Ebaugh 2M  was  the  pastor  of  that 
church — a  man  of  some  ability,  but  eccentric  and  full  of 
strange  expedients.  He  conceived  the  idea  that  the  Semi- 
nary ought  to  purchase  the  Reformed  church  and  parson- 
age in  Carlisle.  The  amount  of  the  purchase  money — 
$4,000 — he  proposed  to  collect  in  Cumberland  County,  os- 

234  John  S.  Ebaugh,  born,  York  Co.,  Pa.,  April  19,  1795  ;  died,  New  York 
city,  Nov.  2,  1874.  Published  "  Heavenly  Incense,"  an  English  version  of 
Zollikofer's  Prayer-book.  General  agent  of  American  Bible  Society.  Pastor 
of  Forsyth  Street  church,  New  York,  1844-51. 


288        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

tensibly  for  the  Theological  Seminary  but  actually  to  pay 
for  this  property  and  thus  to  enable  his  congregation  to 
erect  a  new  church  at  a  more  favorable  location.  Mr. 
Ebaugh  secured  a  ^^/-endorsement  of  this  scheme  from 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  but  as  this  action 
was  taken  without  the  presence  of  a  quorum  it  was  de- 
clared invalid.  Dr.  Mayer  opposed  Mr.  Ebaugh's  plan, 
and  the  result  was  an  intense  conflict.  Mr.  Ebaugh 
finally  joined  the  Free  Synod,  and  of  course  failed  to 
make  the  collections  which  he  had  proposed.233 

The  financial  condition  of  the  Seminary  was  at  this 
time  very  discouraging.  There  was  no  endowment,  and 
the  small  salary  promised  to  the  professor  by  the  synod 
was  very  irregularly  paid.  It  was  in  this  dark  hour  that 
one  of  the  pastors  started  upon  an  enterprise  that  seemed 
romantic,  if  not  absurd,  but  which  not  only  brought  im- 
mediate relief  but  accomplished  great  results  in  rousing 
the  American  Church  to  a  sense  of  its  duty. 

James  Ross  Reily  (1788-1844)  was  born  in  Myerstown, 
Lebanon  County,  and  was  of  mixed  Irish  and  German  de- 
scent. He  was  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  man. 
Though  not  highly  educated  he  was  a  fine  preacher,  and 
was  withal  more  energetic  than  most  of  his  contemporaries. 
For  his  literary  training  he  was  no  doubt  chiefly  indebted 
to  his  uncle,  Dr.  William  Hendel,  Jr.  ;  and  in  theology  he 
was  instructed  \>y  Dr.  C.  L.  Becker,  of  Baltimore.  Soon 
after  his  ordination,  in  1818,  he  undertook  an  extensive 
journey  through  the  southern  states,  saving  many  churches 
that  were  ready  to  die. 

It  was  while   he  was  pastor   at   Hagerstown  that  Mr. 


236  "  Geschichte  des  Theologischen  Seminars  der  Deutschen  Reformirten 
Kirche,"  Hanover,  Pa.,  Daniel  Philip  Lange,  1831.  This  book  is  anonymous, 
but  is  carefully  written  and  presents  the  facts  in  their  proper  order. 


Rcily  in  Europe.  289 

Reily  conceived  the  idea  of  aiding  the  seminary  by  making 
a  personal  appeal  to  the  Church  in  Europe.  In  prompt- 
ness of  action  he  was  not  unlike  Schlatter  on  his  first 
voyage  to  America,  for  in  a  few  weeks  he  had  not  only 
resigned  his  congregation  but  had  secured  the  approval  of 
synod  for  his  undertaking.  He  sailed  from  Philadelphia 
in  May,  1825,  and  returned  to  America  in  October  of  the 
following  year.  A  full  report  of  the  incidents  of  his 
journey  is  contained  in  the  minutes  of  synod  for  1828. 

In  Europe  Mr.  Reily  was  received  with  great  kindness, 
not  to  say  enthusiasm.  He  attended  the  meeting  of  the 
synod  of  Holland  and  there  received  a  gift  of  $400,  be- 
sides man}''  contributions  from  individuals.  Afterwards 
he  journeyed  through  Germany  to  Switzerland,  and  was 
everywhere  most  cordially  received.  The  King  of  Prussia, 
after  a  pleasant  interview,  gave  him  200  Reichsthaler  and 
granted  him  the  privilege  of  taking  up  collections  in  his 
kingdom.  He  also  gave  him  a  number  of  books  for  the 
library,  some  of  them  stamped  with  the  arms  of  Hohen- 
zollern.  In  Bremen,  Mr.  Reily  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  his  old  friend,  Dr.  B.  Kurtz,  who  had  just  ar- 
rived in  Germany  to  engage  in  similar  work  in  behalf  of 
the  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 

From  German  papers  of  that  date  we  learn  that  Mr. 
Reily's  sermons  attracted  large  audiences,  and  awakened 
great  enthusiasm.  This  fact  we  conceive  to  have  been 
mainly  due  to  his  evident  sincerity,  as  well  as  to  his  plain 
and  unassuming  style.  All  classes  vied  in  presenting  con- 
tributions to  his  cause,  and  not  the  least  touching  were  gifts 
of  jewelry  and  fine  embroidery  which  were  afterwards  sold 
for  the  benefit  of  the  institution. 

Unfortunately  Mr.  Reily  was  in  bad  health,  and  was  fre- 
quently entirely  disabled.     Under   the    circumstances,  his 


290      The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 


o 

M 

hi 

O 

u 

z; 

o 


..151 


Contributions  for  the  Seminary .  291 

mission  must,  however,  be  regarded  as  entirely  successful. 
The  net  results  were  $6,695.55  in  cash,  and  a  library  of 
several  thousand  volumes.  The  export  duties  on  the 
library,  amounting  to  about  five  hundred  dollars,  were 
generously  remitted  by  the  King  of  Holland. 

The  friends  of  the  seminary  were  greatly  encouraged  by 
Mr.  Reily's  success,  and  about  the  same  time  contributions 
began  to  be  received  from  other  sources.  The  Rev.  Jacob 
Beecher  (written  Buecher  in  the  minutes)  is  said  to  have 
secured  $10,000.  Mr.  Bernard  C.  Wolff — afterwards  an 
eminent  minister — collected  about  $1,200  in  New  York. 
The  contributions  were  not  large,  but  in  the  list  we  observe 
a  subscription  of  $200  from  Col.  Rutgers.  John  Jacob 
Astor  gave  $50,  which  is  the  only  contribution  on  record 
from  that  well-known  millionaire. 

Though  financial  conditions  were  becoming  more  en- 
couraging the  troubles  of  the  seminary  were  by  no  means 
ended.  The  dissensions  in  the  Board  concerning  the  pur- 
chase of  property  still  continued,  and  in  1829  Dr.  Mayer, 
on  his  own  responsibility,  bought  a  property  in  York,  Pa., 
and  removed  the  seminary  to  that  place.  The  synod 
approved  of  his  action,  though  with  the  expressed  proviso 
that  the  institution  might  hereafter  be  removed  elsewhere, 
if  such  a  course  should  be  deemed  advisable.  It  is  possible 
that  the  removal  from  Carlisle  was  a  mistake.  In  1833 
the  Presbyterians  transferred  their  interest  in  Dickinson 
College  to  the  Methodist  Church,  under  whose  care  it  has 
grown  to  be  an  important  and  influential  institution.  With- 
out entering  into  particulars  it  is  easy  to  see  that  at  that 
time  the  Reformed  Church  might  have  secured  a  good 
foundation  for  its  institutions,  and  that  in  this  way  many 
subsequent  troubles  would  have  been  avoided. 

The  Seminary  in  York. — At  York  the  seminary  was 


2Q2 


The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 


reorganized  on  the  nth  of  November,  1829,  and  it  re- 
mained there  until  the  autumn  of  1837.  The  number  of 
students  was  generally  from  twelve  to  twenty-five.  For 
several  years  Dr.  Mayer  was  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Young,  who  was  chosen  assistant  professor  of  theology. 


FIRST  SEMINARY   AT  YORK,    PA. 

Mr.  Young  was  a  brilliant  man — a  graduate  of  Union 
College,  New  York,  and  of  the  theological  seminary  at 
Princeton.  Though  educated  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
he  was  of  Reformed  descent  and  entered  upon  his  work 
with  great  enthusiasm — but  his  health  soon  failed  and, 
while  seeking  its  restoration  by  a  journey  in  the  South,  he 
died  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  March  6,  183 1. 

Dr.  Mayer's  chief  trouble  was  derived  from  the  fact  that 
his  students  lacked  preparatory  training.  In  a  report  to 
synod  he  said  that  he  was  compelled  to  refuse  applicants 
who  could  "  barely  read  and  write."     In  1831  it  was  found 


High  School  at   l'ork. 


=93 


necessary  to  establish  a  classical  department  which  was 
known  as  the  High  School  of  the  Reformed  Church.  The 
school  was,  in  1832,  put  in  charge  of  the  Rev.  Frederick 
A.  Rauch,  and  it  soon  became  very  prosperous,  so  that 
there  was  a  general  desire  that  it  should  be  raised  to  the 
rank  of  a  college.  Of  course,  under  the  direction  of  such 
a  man  as  Dr.  Rauch  any  school  might  be  expected  to  ad- 
vance to  such  a  position. 

It  was  now  proposed  that  the  institutions  of  the  Church 


HIGH  SCHOOL  OF  REFORMED   CHURCH   AT  YORK,    PA. 

should  be  located  at  the  place  from  which  the  most  advan- 
tageous proposals  were  received,  and  the  first  place  to 
present  such  proposals  was  Mercersburg,  in  Franklin 
County.  The  pastor  of  the  church  at  that  place  was  the 
Rev.  Jacob  Mayer  (no  relative  of  the  professor),  who  fully 
appreciated  the  importance  of  securing  the  institutions  for 
the  town  and  left  no  stone  unturned  to  accomplish  his  pur- 


294        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

pose.  He  succeeded  in  interesting  the  whole  community, 
and  the  subscriptions  received  were  unexpectedly  liberal. 
It  is  true  that,  from  our  present  point  of  view,  the  amount 
offered  was  entirely  insufficient  for  the  establishment  of  a 
college ;  but  the  proposals  sent  from  several  other  towns 
were  on  the  whole  less  satisfactory,  and  it  was  in  1835 
resolved  to  establish  the  institutions  at  Mercersburg  and  the 
High  School  was  immediately  removed  to  that  place,  but 
the  seminary  remained  in  York  until  1836.  The  charter 
of  Marshall  College  was  granted  by  the  legislature  of 
Pennsylvania,  March  31,  1836.  The  beginning  was 
humble,  but  the  results  were  of  great  importance  in  the 
history  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


Mercersburg. 

Frederick   Augustus   Rauch — John   Williamson  Nevin  —Philip  Schaff — 
the  Mercersburg  Controversies. 


S£§ 

**rJ  f 

\  jj 

* 


ERCERSBURG    is    a 

pleasant  village  among 
the  mountains  of  Franklin  county. 
In  early  catalogues  of  Marshall 
College  it  is  thus  described  :  "It 
is  more  than  usually  retired, 
though  within  a  short  distance 
of  the  great  thoroughfares  of 
travel  on  different  sides.  At  the 
same  time  it  has  the  advantage 
of  a  daily  mail.  Few  places, 
it  is  believed,  furnish  less  occasion  in  the  case  of  stu- 
dents, for  distraction  or  dissipation  of  mind.  It  would 
be  hard  to  find  a  location  more  favorable  altogether  to 
health.  As  respects  scenery,  it  maybe  described  as  more 
than  beautiful;  it  is  absolutely  splendid.  At  the  distance 
of  from  two  to  five  miles,  the  mountains  are  thrown  around 
it  in  a  sort  of  half-circle,  gracefully  irregular  and  impos- 
ingly picturesque ;  forming  a  vast  amphitheatre,  from 
whose  towering  sides  in  every  direction  nature  looks  upon 
the  beholder,    through   sunshine   and   storm,   in  her  most 

(295) 


296        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

magnificent  apparel.  Strangers  who  are  possessed  of  any 
taste  are  generally  much  taken  with  the  situation,  under 
the  view  now  mentioned.  It  might  well  be  selected  for  a 
summer  retreat  by  such  as  wish  to  make  their  escape  from 
the  city  during  the  hot  months,  without  caring  to  follow 
the  crowd  to  more  fashionable  but  less  graceful  places  of 
resort." 

In  this  obscure  place  Dr.  Rauch  toiled  until  his  early 
death.  He  met  with  difficulties  of  which  we  can  hardly 
form  a  proper  conception,  but  so  far  as  we  know  he  never 
complained.  Not  the  least  of  his  early  difficulties  was  un- 
familiarity  with  the  English  language,  but  he  soon  sur- 
mounted it  with  all  the  skill  of  an  accomplished  philologist. 
As  he  was  the  originator  of  what  has  been  known  as  the 
Mercersburg  movement  in  philosophy  and  theology,  it 
may  be  interesting  to  present  a  brief  sketch  of  his  remark- 
able career. 

Frederick  Augustus  Rauch  was  born  July  27,  1806,  at 
Kirchbracht,  in   Hesse  Darmstadt,  where   his   father  was 


£*Ui&gA*A. 


pastor.  Concerning  his  boyhood  little  is  known,  except 
that  he  was  very  precocious.  He  studied  successively  at 
the  universities  of  Marburg,  Giessen  and  Heidelberg,  and 
after  serving  a  short  time  as  professor  extraordinary  at 
Giessen,  was  appointed  to  a  full  professorship  at  Heidel- 
berg. As  Rauch  was  at  that  time  but  twenty-four  years 
old,  his  promotion  naturally  caused  great  surprise.  Pro- 
fessor Schiedt  says  :235  "  Such  an  appointment  at  so  early 
an  age  has  to  my  knowledge  only  once  been  repeated  in 


236"  on  the  Threshold  of  a  New  Century,"  Philadelphia,  1900,  p.  27. 


Ranch  at  Heidelberg.  297 

this  century — viz.,  in  the  case  of  Friedrich  Nietzsche,  who 
is  by  many  considered  the  profoundest  philosophical 
thinker  of  modern  Germany." 

That  Dr.  Rauch  was  a  philosophical  thinker  of  the 
highest  order  can  hardly  be  doubted.  He  had  been  the 
favorite  pupil  of  the  great  eclectic  philosopher,  Carl  Daub, 
and  though  recognized  as  a  Hegelian,  many  elements  of 
his  thinking  were  derived  from  Schelling  and  others 
of  his  great  contemporaries.  In  theology  he  was  ortho- 
dox and  he  was  ordained  to  the  ministry,  though,  as  he 
himself  acknowledged,  it  was  not  until  affliction  came 
that  he  fully  appreciated  the  consoling  power  of  the 
Christian  faith.237 

At  the  very  moment  when  Dr.  Rauch  appeared  to  be 
entering  upon  a  brilliant  career  at  the  University  of  Heid- 
elberg, an  event  occurred  which  entirely  changed  the  cur- 
rent of  his  life.  This  event  has  never  been  fully  ex- 
plained, but  it  is  not  difficult  to  comprehend  its  general 
character.  The  German  governments,  in  pursuance  of 
the  policy  inaugurated  by  Metternich  after  the  fall  of  Na- 
poleon, were  seeking  by  every  possible  means  to  repress 
the  spirit  of  freedom  that  flourished  in  the  universities ; 
and  for  a  professor  who  was  believed  to  entertain  liberal 

237  The  general  bent  of  Dr.  Rauch's  studies  appears  from  the  following 
Hst  of  his  European  publications  : 

1.  "A  Latin  Treatise  on  the  Electra  of  Sophocles." 

2.  "The  Resurrection" — also  in  Latin. 

3.  "The  Identity  of  the  Hindoos,  Persians,  Germans  and  Slavs,  as  Indi- 
cated by  their  Language,  Religion  and  Manners."  M 

4.  "A  Critique  of  Goethe's  Faust." 

5.  "A  Treatise  on  Auricular  Confession." 

6.  "Separation  from  the  Church — a  Treatise  on  Apostasy." 

7.  "The  Will  of  God  the  Highest  Principle  of  Morals — a  Treatise  on  the 
Destiny  of  Man." 

8.  "  A  Book  on  the  Literature  of  the  Indians  and  Persians." 

9.  "  Miscellaneous  Articles  and  Sermons." 

The  above  list  appears  in  the  Minutes  of  Synod,  1832. 


298        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

sentiments  there  was  no  mercy.  On  some  public  occasion 
Dr.  Rauch  said  something  which  was  construed  as  treason- 
able, and  the  same  day  he  was  compelled  to  flee  for  his 
life.  He  had  a  parting  interview  with  his  father  at  mid- 
night, and  before  daybreak  had  escaped  beyond  the  border. 
At  a  later  date  he  might  easily  have  posed  as  a  political 
refugee,  but  he  always  confessed  that  he  had  been  impru- 
dent ;  and  could  rarely  be  induced  to  discuss  the  subject. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  in  America,  in  183 1,  Dr.  Rauch 
found  his  way  to  Easton,  Pennsylvania,  where  for  some 


MARSHALL  COLLEGE,    MERCERSBURG ;   ABOUT   1843. 

time  he  supported  himself  by  teaching  music  and  by  giv- 
ing instruction  in  German  in  Lafayette  College.  Here  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Pomp  and  of 
other  Reformed  ministers,  on  whose  recommendation  he 
was  made  principal  of  the  High  School  at  York. 

To  some  of  his  difficulties  in  his  new  situation  we  have 
already  referred.  When  the  college  was  founded  at  Mer- 
cersburg  he  was  for  some  time  assisted  by  a  single  pro- 
fessor, Samuel  W.  Budd.     The  community  failed  to  ap- 


Ranch's  Psychology.  299 

predate  him,  on  account  of  his  imperfect  knowledge  of 
the  English  language  ;  but  by  his  students  he  was  sincerely 
admired.  Having  been  appointed  associate  professor  of 
theology  he  gave  instruction  to  candidates  for  the  ministry 
at  the  same  time  when  Dr.  Mayer  was  performing  a  simi- 
lar service  for  other  students  in  York.  In  1838,  after  a 
brief  season  of  retirement,  Dr.  Mayer  was  elected  Pro- 
fessor of  systematic  theology  at  Mercersburg,  and  on  his 
acceptance  the  synod  acknowledged  its  high  appreciation 
of  his  "magnanimous  sacrifice."  For  one  year  he  taught 
in  Mercersburg,  but  it  was  a  year  of  trouble.  As  might 
have  been  expected,  the  systems  of  theology  taught  by 
the  two  professors  failed  to  harmonize  and  there  was  a 
sharp  conflict.  In  1839  Dr.  Mayer  finally  resigned,  and 
received  the  thanks  of  synod  for  his  "faithful  and  valu- 
able service."  Rev.  J.  C.  Becker,  of  Northampton  County, 
was  elected  his  successor,  but  he  declined  the  appointment. 
For  nearly  two  years  Dr.  Rauch  was  the  sole  professor  of 
theology,  serving  at  the  same  time  as  president  of  Marshall 
College.  During  this  period — besides  writing  a  great  deal 
for  the  church  papers — he  prepared  for  publication  his 
"Psychology,"238  which  maybe  said  to  have  introduced 
this  science  to  American  students.  This  work  was  sub- 
sequently republished  in  many  editions,  and  was  long  used 
as  a  text-book  in  leading  American  colleges.  It  was, 
however,  according  to  Dr.  Nevin,  "only  the  beginning  of 
what  he  wished  and  expected  to  accomplish  as  an  author." 
Of  much  more  account  was  to  have  been  his  "Moral 
Philosophy,"  a  work  on  which  his  heart  was  greatly  set, 
and  which  he  hoped  to  publish  in  the  ensuing  summer.  A 
treatise  on  aesthetics  was  intended  to  carry  out  and  com- 
plete the  scheme.239     There   can  be  no  doubt  that  constant 

238  "psychology  ora  View  of  the  Human  Soul,"  New  York,  1841. 

239  preliminary  notice  to  the  second  edition,  IX. 


300        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

and  unremitting  labor  undermined  his  physical  strength 
and  thus  became  the  chief  cause  of  his  early  death. 

The  special  meeting  of  synod,  convened  at  Chambers- 
burg  on  the  29th  of  January,  1840,  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  a  professor  of  systematic  theology,  was  one  of  the 
most  important  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  It  was  a 
small  body — numbering  not  more  than  thirty  delegates — 
and  no  one  could  possibly  have  anticipated  its  action. 
Several  candidates  were  proposed,  but  at  their  own  request 
their  names  were  withdrawn.  Then,  as  by  a  common  in- 
spiration, the  synod  unanimously  elected  the  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Williamson  Nevin,  at  that  time  professor  in  the  Western 
Theological  Seminary  at  Allegheny,  Pennsylvania.240 

All  the  members  of  that  synod  have  long  since  passed 
away,  but  in  former  years  the  present  writer  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  many  of  them  ;  and  no  one  could  furnish  an 
adequate  explanation  of  the  reasons  which  influenced  the 
mind  of  the  synod  in  extending  that  remarkable  call.  That 
Dr.  Nevin  was  not  entirely  unknown  in  Chambersburg 
may  be  taken  for  granted,  as  he  had  been  born  in  Franklin 
County,  and  his  "  Biblical  Antiquities "  had  been  exten- 
sively circulated,  though  without  attracting  much  personal 
attention  to  the  author.  The  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Fisher — 
then  pastor  at  Emmitsburg,  Maryland,  was  the  only  mem- 
ber of  the  synod  who  had  heard  him  preach,  and  Dr. 
Benjamin  S.  Schneck,  editor  of  the  Weekly  Messenger , 
had  followed   his  course  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  with 

240  John  Williamson  Nevin,  D.D.,  IX.D.,  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Pa., 
Feb.  20,  1803.  Graduated  at  Union  College,  1821.  Studied  theology  at  Prince- 
ton, and  was  for  two  years  assistant  teacher  there,  during  which  time  he  wrote 
"Biblical  Antiquities."  Professor  in  the  Seminary  at  Allegheny,  1829-39. 
Professor  of  Theology  at  Mercersburg,  1840-51,  and  President  of  Marshall 
College,  1841-53.  President  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  1866-76.  Sub- 
sequently lived  in  retirement  at  Caernarvon  Place  near  Lancaster,  where  he 
died,  June  6,  1886. 


John   Williamson  Nevin.  301 

peculiar  interest.  It  was  known  that  he  had  devoted  some 
attention  to  the  study  of  German  theology,  and  this  fact 
was  greatly  in  his  favor.  All  this,  however,  does  not  ade- 
quately account  for  the  fact  that  he  was  unanimously 
chosen.  It  was  suggested  that  the  Presbyterian  Church 
would  not  suffer  him  to  withdraw  from  its  communion,  but 
Dr.  Fisher  replied:  "  If  we  can  satisfy  him  that  it  is  his 
duty  to  take  charge  of  the  professorship  at  Mercersburg, 
the  whole  Presbyterian  Church  combined  cannot  prevent 
him  from  doing  so."2n 

Messrs.  Schneck  and  Fisher  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  present  the  call,  and  in  the  depth  of  winter  they  crossed 
the  Alleghanies  in  a  sleigh  to  perform  their  mission.  To 
Dr.  Nevin  their  visit  was  a  great  surprise  and  he  naturally 
desired  time  for  consideration.     In  reaching  a  decision  he 


seems  to  have  been  greatly  influenced  by  Dr.  Archibald 
Alexander,  of  Princeton,  who  was  deeply  impressed  with 
the  importance  of  the  work  which  he  had  been  called  to 
perform  among  the  Germans  of  Pennsylvania.  In  his 
letter  of  acceptance  dated  March  5,  1841,  after  explaining 
his  motives  and  relating  in  detail  the  difficulties  which  he 
had  overcome,  Dr.  Nevin  said:  "Thus  do  I  feel  myself 
constrained  to  go  into  the  German  Reformed  Church. 
Let  it  not  be  thought,  however,  that  I  go  reluctantly  or 
coldly  into  her  communion,  now  that  the  duty  is  settled. 
I  go,  indeed,  with  fear  and  trembling ;  but  I  carry  with  me 

241  "  Life  and  Work  of  John  Williamson  Nevin,"  by  Theodore  Appel,  D.D., 
P-95- 


302        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

my  entire  will.  I  give  myself  wholly  to  the  German  Re- 
formed Church,  and  find  no  difficulty  in  making  her  inter- 
ests my  own.  No  church  can  boast  of  a  better  creed,  or 
a  better  ecclesiastical  framework.  Her  fathers  rank  high 
in  the  history  of  the  Reformation.  The  spirit  of  a  time- 
hallowed  faith,  such  as  could  once  make  martyrs,  older 
than  the  Presbyterianism  of  Scotland,  is  still  enshrined  in 
her  articles  and  forms,  and  the  German  Church  in  this 
country  has  become  a  rising  interest.  No  section  of  our 
American  Zion  is  more  important.  None  embraces  vaster 
resources  of  power  in  proportion  to  its  limits.  None  ex- 
hibits a  richer  intellectual  ore,  available  in  the  same  way 
for  the  purpose  of  religion.  I  find  no  lack  of  considera- 
tions here  to  enlist  my  sympathies  or  to  stimulate  my  zeal. 
I  can  go  heartily  into  such  a  church,  and  in  this  spirit  I 
now  accept  the  call  of  your  synod  to  the  professorship  at 
Mercersburg."  It  is  in  this  utterance  that  we  find  the 
secret  of  Dr.  Nevin's  subsequent  success  and  influence. 
He  identified  himself  so  completely  with  German  thought 
and  life  that  the  German  Church  accepted  him  with  unre- 
served confidence.  There  have  probably  been  few  emi- 
nent men  who  have  been  less  concerned  to  advance  their 
personal  interests.  Personally  he  was  dignified  and  re- 
served, and  his  courtesy  never  descended  to  familiarity. 
At  first  his  pupils  were  inclined  to  fear  him,  though  it  was 
not  long  until  they  learned  to  appreciate  the  profound  in- 
terest with  which  he  regarded  them. 

When  Dr.  Nevin  and  his  family  arrived  in  Mercers- 
burg, in  the  spring  of  1840,  Dr.  Rauch  and  his  young  wife 
received  them  with  the  utmost  kindness.  In  disposition 
and  manners  the  two  professors  were  very  unlike,  but  they 
immediately  conceived  for  each  other  a  warm  personal 
affection.     During  the  year  which  they  spent  together  Dr. 


The   Centenary.  303 

Rauch  was  greatly  concerned  to  direct  the  studies  of  his 
colleague  in  German  theology  and  philosophy,  and  it  ac- 
tually seemed  as  if  he  was  unconsciously  preparing  the 
way  for  his  successor. 

Dr.  Rauch  gradually  declined  in  strength,  though  no 
one  supposed  that  he  was  suffering  from  serious  illness. 
His  death,  which  occurred  on  the  2d  of  March,  1841,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  due  to  a  general  physical  collapse, 
brought  on  by  incessant  labor.  He  was  buried  at  Mercers- 
burg,  but  his  remains  have  since  been  brought  to  Lancas- 
ter where  an  appropriate  monument  has  been  erected  to 
his  memory. 

The  death  of  Dr.  Rauch  was  a  great  blow  to  the  edu- 
cational interests  of  the  Reformed  Church,  but  Dr.  Nevin 
proved  equal  to  the  occasion.  For  three  years  he  had  sole 
charge  of  the  theological  seminary,  assisted  only  by  an 
instructor  in  Hebrew,  and  at  the  same  time  serving  without 
salary  as  President  of  Marshall  College.  At  the  same 
time  he  studied  Schleiermacher,  insisting,  however,  that 
11  his  grand  ideas  could  be  separated  from  the  rationalism 
of  the  times  in  which  they  were  uttered."  He  also  made 
himself  familiar  with  the  writings  of  Neander,  Nitzsche, 
Rothe  and  other  great  German  theologians. 

In  1841  the  Reformed  Church  held  a  centenary  cele- 
bration in  commemoration  of  its  establishment  in  this 
country,  though  no  particular  event  was  selected  as  worthy 
of  special  honor.  The  celebration  was  not  general,  but 
within  its  limits  it  awakened  the  interest  of  the  Church, 
and  considerable  additions  were  made  to  the  endowment 
of  the  institutions.  A  centenary  hymn  beginning  "Thou 
who  art  enthroned  in  Glory,"  was  written  by  Mrs.  Lydia 
Jane  Peirson  and  set  to  music  by  Dr.  Schneck.  In  it  oc- 
cur the  following  stanzas : 


304       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

"  We  would  celebrate  the  changes 

Which  a  hundred  years  have  made, 
Since  our  fathers — poor  and  strangers — 
Sought  the  Western  forest  shade. 

■'  From  Helvetia's  mighty  mountains 
Came  a  little  friendless  band  ; 
By  the  rich  Rhine's  infant  fountains 
Others  left  their  fatherland. 

"  Here  the  little  vine,  increasing, 

Spread  its  branches  green  and  fair, 
Now,  by  thine  especial  blessing, 
See  how  wide  thy  vineyards  are. ' ' 

To  this  celebration  Dr.  Nevin  contributed  a  series  of 
articles  on  the  history  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  which 
were  subsequently  rewritten  and  published  in  a  small  vol- 
ume.2*2 

When  Dr.  Nevin  accepted  the  call  to  Mercersburg,  his 
learning  was  fully  acknowledged,  but  no  one  imagined 
that  he  would  become  a  great  controversialist.  His  con- 
troversies, however,  were  rarely  personal.  He  seemed  to 
care  little  for  literary  reputation,  but  when  once  aroused  in 
behalf  of  some  great  principle  he  was  absolutely  destitute 
of  fear.  The  writer  once  heard  Dr.  Schaff  say:  "Dr. 
Nevin's  mind  is  like  the  Corliss  engine — it  takes  a  great 
deal  of  fuel  to  get  it  started,  but  when  it  works  it  works 
wonders." 

The  first  of  these  controversies  was  induced  by  his  con- 
stitutional opposition  to  religious  fanaticism.  The  congre- 
gation at  Mercersburg  was  about  to  call  as  its  pastor  an 
extreme  representative  of  unchurchly  pietism,  but  this  act 
was  prevented  by  Dr.  Nevin's  indignant  protest.  This  led 
to  the  publication  of  his  tract  on  "  The  Anxious  Bench," 
which  was  extensively  circulated  in  all  denominations,  and 


242  "History  and  Genius  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,"  Chambersburg, 
1847. 


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it: 


Krummacher.  305 

called  forth  no  less  than  six  replies.  It  was  not,  as  has 
sometimes  been  supposed,  an  attack  on  revivals  of  religion  ; 
but  was  rather  intended  to  show  that  true  revivals  must 
grow  out  of  the  true  life  of  the  Church,  and  must  not  be 
arbitrarily  imposed  upon  it  from  without,  or  accompanied 
by  what  the  author  called  "  Montanistic  extravagancies." 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  little  book  changed  the 
current  of  thought  and  life  in  the  German  churches  of 
Pennsylvania.243 

In  January,  1843,  a  special  meeting  of  the  synod  was 
convened  at  Lebanon,  Pa.,  to  elect  a  German  professor 
and  successor  to  Dr.  Rauch.  That  a  call  was  extended  to 
the  Rev.  Dr.  F.  W.  Krummacher,  of  Elberfeld,  Prussia, 
is  somewhat  remarkable,  for  Krummacher  was  the  fore- 
most preacher  in  Germany,  holding  a  position  which  was 
much  more  prominent  than  the  one  to  which  he  was  called. 
It  is,  however,  well  known  that  there  had  been  earlier  cor- 
respondence, and  that  Krummacher  was  not  disinclined 
to  remove  to  America.  The  Rev.  Drs.  Benjamin  S. 
Schneck2"  and  Theodore  L.  Hoffeditz245  were  appointed 
commissioners  "  to  convey  the  call  to  Dr.  Krummacher 
and  by  all  suitable  representations  to  urge  its  acceptance." 

The  visit  of  the  delegates  to  Germany,  in  the  summer 
of  1843,  naturally  attracted  much  attention.  Dr.  Krum- 
macher was  at  first  inclined  to  accept  the  call,  but  the 
church  in  Germany  was  greatly  excited  by  the  prospect  of 
his  removal,  and  the  King  of  Prussia  actually  forbade  it. 

243  See  Jacobs's  "History  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,"  American 
Church  History  Series,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  418. 

244  Benjamin  S.  Schneck,  born  near  Reading,  Pa.,  March  14,  1896;  died  at 
Chambersburg,  Pa. .April  14,  1874.  Preceptor,  Dr.  F.  Herman.  First  editor  of 
the  Messenger  and  Kirchenzeitung.  Author  of  "  The  Burning  of  Chambers- 
burg," "  Mercersburg  Theology,"  etc. 

245  Theodore  L.  Hoffeditz,  born  in  Karlshaven,  Germany,  died  at  Nazareth, 
Pa.,  Aug.  10,  1858.    An  eminent  and  influential  pastor. 


306       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

In  a  most  affectionate  letter  of  declination  Dr.  Krummacher 
said  :  "I  stand  before  you,  my  soul  deeply  moved,  tender- 
ing you  my  hand  with  the  double  assurance  that  I  lay 
down  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  by  your  call  at  the  feet 
of  Him  to  whom  all  honor  is  due,  and  that  in  future  I  shall 
feel  myself  to  be  one  of  your  number,  and  that  as  long  as  I 
breathe,  I  shall  not  cease  to  bear  the  interest  of  your  beloved' 
church  with  a  praying  heart  before  the  throne  of  God." 

Though  this  declination  involved  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  the  American  Church,  it  is  not  impossible  that  it 
was  a  blessing  in  disguise.  Dr.  Krummacher  was  at  that 
time  forty-seven  years  old,  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the 
English  language,  and  accustomed  to  social  conditions 
which  in  those  days  could  hardly  have  been  reproduced  in 
America.  In  this  country  his  magnificent  German  ser- 
mons would  not  have  been  fully  appreciated,  and  he  might 
have  found  it  difficult  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  re- 
ligious order  of  a  republic. 

Unwilling  to  return  to  America  without  having  in  any 


way  accomplished  the  purpose  of  their  mission,  the  com- 
missioners submitted  the  nomination  of  a  candidate  for  the 
professorship  to  a  number  of  the  most  eminent  theologians 
of  Germany,  prominent  among  whom  were  Neander,  Ju- 
lius Muller,  Tholuck  and  Krummacher.  These  men 
finally  agreed  to  nominate  Dr.  Philip  Schaff 246  who  was  at 

2ie  Philip  Schaff  was  born  at  Chur,  Switzerland,  January  I,  1819  ;  died  in 
New  York,  October  20,  1893.  Professor  at  Mercersburg,  1844-63.  Secretary  of 
New  York  Sabbath  Committee,  1864-69,  and  after  1870  Professor  of  Sacred 
literature  in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York.  Author  and  editor  of 
more  than  fifty  volumes. 


Philip  S chaff.  307 

that  time  a  privat-docent  in  the  University  of  Berlin.  The 
name  of  Dr.  J.  A.  Ebrard247  afterwards  an  eminent  the- 
ologian— was  also  suggested — but  Dr.  Schaff  was  pre- 
ferred on  the  ground  that  he  was  "  a  republican  Swiss," 
and  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  accommodate  him- 
self more  readily  to  new  conditions.  On  this  recommen- 
dation Dr.  Schaff  was  elected  professor  of  theology,  at 
Winchester,  Va.,  on  the  19th  of  October,  1843. 

Before  leaving  Germany  the  young  professor  preached 
a  sermon  at  Elberfeld  which  subsequently  gave  him  a  good 
deal  of  trouble.  In  it  he  spoke  with  great  freedom  of  the 
moral  and  religious  character  of  a  large  part  of  the  Ger- 
man emigration  to  America ;  and  as  garbled  extracts  from 
this  discourse  were  published  in  the  German  papers  of  this 
country,  he  had  before  his  arrival  become  unpopular  with 
many  of  his  countrymen. 

Dr.  Schaff  was  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  United  States  at  a  meeting  of  Synod  con- 
vened in  Zion's  Church,  Allentown,  Pa.,  October  17,  1844. 
The  church,  of  which  the  father  of  the  author  was  at  that 
time  pastor,  had  but  recently  been  erected  on  the  site  of 
the  old  Reformed  Church  in  which  the  Liberty  Bell  and 
the  chimes  of  Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  were  concealed 
during  the  Revolution. 

At  Reading,  on  the  25th  of  October,  Dr.  Schaff  was 
installed  in  his  professorship.  On  this  occasion  he  de- 
livered an  address  entitled  "The  Principle  of  Protestant- 
ism,"  which  was   subsequently  enlarged   and  published, 

247  John  Henry  Augustus  Ebrard  was  born  January  18,  1818,  at  Erlangen, 
where  his  father  was  pastor  of  the  French  Reformed  Church.  He  was  suc- 
cessively professor  at  Zurich  and  Erlangen  and  was  a  voluminous  author.  His 
Christliche  Dogmatik  was  for  some  years  used  as  a  text-book  at  Mercersburg. 
As  a  writer  of  religious  fiction  he  became  well  known  under  the  pseudonym 
of  "  Gottfried  Flammberg."    He  died  July  23,  1888. 


308       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

with  an  introduction  by  Dr.  Nevin.  In  this  publication 
both  professors  defended  the  doctrine  of  historical  de- 
velopment, holding  that  Protestantism  can  be  successfully- 
defended  as  the  organic  development  of  all  that  has  gone 
before;  that  it  is,  in  fact,  "the  full  ripe  fruit  of  all  the 
better  tendencies  of  the  middle  ages." 

All  this  may  now  appear  trite  and  commonplace,  but  in 
those  days  it  appeared  new  and  startling.  It  so  happened 
that  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Anti-Romanist  party 
was  a  minister  of  the  Reformed  Church — a  man  who  had 
always  taught  that  everything  connected  with  the  mediaeval 
church  was  utterly  and  irremediably  evil — and  he  could 
not  suffer  such  utterances  to  pass  unchallenged. 

Dr.  Joseph  F.  Berg  was  at  that  time  pastor  of  the  First 
Reformed  Church  of  Philadelphia.248  He  was  a  man  of 
unusual  ability  and  had  been  engaged  in  several  public 
controversies  which  had  attracted  wide  attention.  Mainly 
through  his  influence  the  Classis  of  Philadelphia  passed  a 
series  of  resolutions  condemning  the  "Principle  of  Prot- 
estantism," and  directing  the  attention  of  Synod  to  the 


teachings  of  its  professors.  The  consequence  was  an  in- 
vestigation at  the  Synod  of  York,  in  1845,  which  lasted 
four  days,  and  finally  resulted  in   the  exoneration  of  the 

248  Joseph  F.  Berg- was  born  June  3,  1812,  in  Antigua,  West  Indies,  where 
his  parents  were  Moravian  missionaries.  Having  entered  the  Reformed 
Church,  he  was  for  some  time  professor  in  Marshall  College,  and  subsequently 
pastor  in  Harrisburg  and  Philadelphia.  Having  entered  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  he  was  pastor  in  Philadelphia  and  professor  at  New  Brunswick. 
Editor  of  the  Protestant  Quarterly ;  author  of  "  Christian  Landmarks,"  etc. 
Died  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  July  20,  1871. 


THE    REFORMED   CHURCH    IN    FE/NNSYLV ANIA. 


MINISTERS  OF  THE   REFORMED  CHURCH. 


PHILIP   HIILEDOLER. 
EL1BS   HEINER. 


JOSEPH    P.    BERG 

J     H     A.    BOHBERCER 


Literary    Work.  309 

professors  from  all  the  charges  preferred.  As  Dr.  Schaff 
was  most  directly  concerned,  it  has  been  termed  his  trial 
for  heresy,  though  it  was  not  technically  a  trial.  When 
all  was  over  he  made  a  speech  in  broken  English  express- 
ive of  his  delight  at  his  deliverance.  "  If  the  result  had 
been  otherwise,"  he  afterward  said,  "I'would  have  gone 
right  back  to  Berlin." 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  describe  the  Mercersburg  contro- 
versies in  all  their  successive  stages.  However  interesting 
this  might  prove  to  the  professional  theologian,  it  would 
hardly  prove  attractive  to  the  general  reader.  For  the 
sake  of  completeness  we  may  perhaps  be  permitted  to  say 
that  in  1846  Dr.  Nevin  published  his  "  Mystical  Pres- 
ence :  A  Vindication  of  the  Reformed  or  Calvinistic  Doc- 
trine of  the  Holy  Eucharist,"  a  book  which  attracted  wide 
attention  and  has  been  held  to  mark  an  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  American  theology. 

In  1848  the  alumni  of  Marshall  College  undertook  the 
publication  of  the  Mercersburg  Review,  and  Dr.  Nevin 
was  until  1853  its  editor  and  chief  contributor.  In  the 
same  year  Dr.  Schaff  began  the  publication  of  Der 
Kirchenfreund,  a  monthly  magazine  devoted  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  German  churches  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
establishment  of  these  periodicals  demanded  courage  and 
devotion,  but  they  gradually  attracted  the  attention  and 
support  of  eminent  men  who  stood  outside  of  the  denomi- 
nation with  which  their  editors  were  immediately  con- 
nected. In  the  Review  most  of  Dr.  Nevin's  controversial 
articles  appeared,  and  the  Kirchenfreund  was  especially 
useful  in  giving  the  German  churches  of  America  a  proper 
conception  of  the  best  thinking  of  the  fatherland. 

Dr.  Nevin's  literary  work  was  mostly  occasional,  and 
much  of  it  has  passed  away  with  the  conditions  that  pro- 


310        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

duced  it.  In  many  instances  his  purpose  was  misunder- 
stood and  this  led  to  opposition  that  was  not  entirely  de- 
served. Thus,  for  instance,  his  articles  on  "Cyprian" 
and  "  Early  Christianity,"  which  have  been  held  to  reveal 
a  Romanizing  tendency,  were  actually  intended  to  oppose 
the  Tractarian  movement  in  England  by  showing  that  the 
peculiarities  of  Rome  had  existed  at  an  earlier  period  than 
the  Puseyites  asserted. 

It  is  difficult  to  treat  on  this  subject  without  entering 
more  deeply  into  theological  questions  than  present  con- 
ditions will  permit;  but  it  may  be  confidently  asserted 
that  there  was  little  in  these  controversies  which  could 
properly  be  called  denominational.  They  represented  a 
movement  in  the  life  of  the  Church,  rather  than  any  pecu- 
liar system  of  faith.  Dr.  Nevin  was  a  profound  realistic 
philosopher,  and  naturally  regarded  the  Church  from  his 
peculiar  standpoint  as  a  divine  organism  that  is  not  de- 
pendent on  earthly  conditions  for  its  origin  or  continued 
existence.  Though  the  questions  which  he  raised  have 
never  been  definitely  answered,  they  have  for  the  time 
been  superseded.  Dr.  Nevin  published  few  volumes ; 
but  he  has  left  behind  him  traditions  of  his  power  which 
shaped  and  moulded  the  denomination  with  which  he  was 
connected.  In  the  judgment  of  his  successors  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  this  country  has  had  no  greater  teacher 
than  John  Williamson  Nevin. 

In  literary  work  Dr.  Schaff  was  much  more  active  than 
his  eminent  colleague.  At  Mercersburg  he  wrote  his 
"History  of  the  Apostolic  Church,"  which  appeared  in 
German  in  185 1,  and  was  afterwards  translated  under  the 
supervision  of  the  author.  He  also  published  a  German 
hymn-book  (1859),  "  America  "  (1854),  "Germany:  Its 
Universities  and  Divines  "  (1857),"  History  of  the  Christian 


Institutions.  311 

Church  of  the  First  Three  Centuries  "  (1858),  besides  minor 
tracts  and  essays. 

Influenced  by  the  example  of  the  professors  many 
younger  men  engaged  in  literary  pursuits.  Dr.  Henry 
Harbaugh  continued  the  historical  work  of  Dr.  Mayer  and 
published  two  volumes  of  his  "  Lives  of  the  Fathers." 
Other  authors  of  this  period  were  J.  H.  A.  Bomberger,  E. 
V.  Gerhart,  Thomas  C.  Porter,  George  W.  Williard  and 
Jeremiah  H.  Good. 

In  185 1  Dr.  Nevin  resigned  his  professorship  of  theol- 
ogy, but  Dr.  Schaff  remained  in  Mercersburg  until  1865. 
Dr.  Bernard  C.  Wolff249  was  professor  of  systematic  theol- 
ogy from  1852  to  1864,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Dr. 
Henry   Harbaugh.     Elnathan  E.   Higbee250  was  the  suc- 


E.  E.  HIGBEE. 

cessor  of  Dr.  Schaff.     In  1857  a  theological  tutorship  was 
established,  partly  on  the  basis  of  a  fund  invested  in  Ger- 

249  Bernard  C.  Wolff,  D.D.,  born  at  Martinsburg,  W.  Va.,  Dec.  u,  1794  ;  died 
at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  Nov.  i,  1870. 

250  Elnathan  Elisha  Higbee,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  born  near  Burlington,  Vermont, 
March  27,  1830;  died,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  Dec.  13,  1889.  Author  of  several  beauti- 
ful hymns.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools 
for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 


312       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

many,  the  gift  of  Baron  Von  Bethmann-Hollweg.  This 
tutorship  has  since  been  raised  to  a  full  professorship. 

In  1853 — as  already  stated — Marshall  College  was  re- 
moved to  Lancaster  and  consolidated  with  Franklin  under 
the  title  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College.  The  Theo- 
logical Seminary  remained  in  Mercersburg  until  1871, 
when  it  was  also  removed  to  Lancaster,  where  both  insti- 
tutions have  since  been  successfully  conducted.  There 
are  now  larger  faculties  and  finer  buildings,  but  for  their 
enthusiasm,  energy  and  literary  labor,  the  days  of  old 
Mercersburg  are  still  affectionately  remembered.251 

That  the  Reformed  Church  suffered  in  some  respects  dur- 
ing the  Mercersburg  controversies  is  freely  acknowledged. 
In  the  heat  of  controversy  many  imprudent  things  were 
said  ;  and  it  has  been  asserted  that  the  Mercersburg  move- 
ment suffered  more  from  its  friends  than  from  its  enemies. 
A  few  extremists  left  the  Church  and  several  important 
congregations  were  lost.  Especially  during  the  Liturgical 
controversy,  which  grew  out  of  the  theological  conflicts  of 
Mercersburg,  the  struggle  sometimes  assumed  a  personal 
form  which  was  greatly  to  be  regretted ;  but  with  all  this 
we  must  also  recognize  the  fact  that  during  this  stormy 
period  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  grew 
more  rapidly  than  it  had  ever  done  before.  Though 
there  were  many  discouragements,  there  was  also  much 
energy  and  enthusiasm ;  and  for  earnest  study  and  pro- 
ductive literary  activity  the  Mercersburg  period  is  un- 
equalled in  the  history  of  the  Church. 


251  The  successive  presidents  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College  since  its 
establishment  in  Lancaster  have  been  the  Rev.  Drs.  Emanuel  V.  Gerhart,  John 
Williamson  Nevin,  Thomas  G.  Apple,  and  John  S.  Stahr.  Dr.  Thomas  G. 
Apple  (1820-1898)  was  at  the  same  time  president  of  the  college  and  professor 
of  Church  History  in  the  seminary.  Rev.  Dr.  E.  V.  Gerhart  is  now  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  faculty  of  the  theological  seminary,  and  there  are  five  professors. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Expansion. 


The  West  and  South — Missions — The  Widows'  Fund — Publications. 


V 


HE  decline  of  the  Reformed 
Church  had  been  mainly- 
due  to  the  lack  of  an  educated 
ministry ;  but  now  that  educa- 
tional institutions  had  been  estab- 
lished there  was  a  prospect  of 
brighter  days.  Dr.  Rauch  had 
suggested  that  the  Reformed 
Church  should  declare  its  adher- 
ence to  the  Church  Union  of 
Prussia,  turning  over  the  western 
field  in  this  country  to  the  Kirchverein  des  Westens. 
There  was,  however,  a  Reformed  Synod  of  Ohio,  which 
had  grown  up  independently,  and  now,  when  young  men 
from  the  East  connected  themselves  with  it,  there  was  a 
prospect  of  effective  work  beyond  the  western  limits  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Beginning  with  the  labors  of  Christman,  La  Rose,  and 
others  the  scattered  ministers  of  Ohio,  as  already  stated, 
had  in  1824  organized  a  synod.  There  was  no  actual 
disagreement  on  questions  of  doctrine  and  usage  between 

(313) 


314       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

the  synods  of  the  east  and  west,  but  for  some  years  there 
was  a  certain  lack  of  cooperation.  The  Ohio  Synod  was 
constrained  to  depend  upon  its  own  efforts,  and  several 
attempts  were  made  to  establish  a  theological  institution. 
In  1838  the  Rev.  J.  G.  Buettner,  Ph.D.,  a  well-educated 
German,  took  charge  of  several  congregations  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Canton,  Ohio,  and  the  synod  appointed 
him  professor  of  theology.  He  prepared  several  students 
for  the  ministry,252  and  was  regarded  with  the  profoundest 
reverence.     That  he  was  a  man  of  great  ability  there  can 

251  The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  to  the  author  from  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Good,  dated  March  11,  1885  :  "Your  reference  to  Dr.  Buettner, 
in  your  sketch,  reminds  me  of  a  funny  anecdote  which  I  recently  heard.  It  is 
perfectly  authentic,  because  it  comes  from  one  of  his  students. 

"  The  ministers  of  the  Ohio  Synod  then  were  all  uneducated  men  ;  had  read 
six  or  twelve  months  privately  with  ministers  and  had  no  scholarly,  theolog- 
ical attainments.  After  the  two  students  of  Dr.  Buettner  had  studied  with 
him  for  some  time  a  meeting  was  appointed  at  Canton  in  order  that  they  might 
be  examined  and  licensed.  But  here  a  great  difficulty  arose  :  none  of  the  min- 
isters would  venture  to  examine  them,  and  especially  in  the  presence  of  the 
learned  Dr.  Buettner.  So  they  pitched  on  the  Rev.  C.  Z. — (an  excellent  prac- 
tical man)  as  chairman,  and  expected  that  he  would  conduct  the  examination. 
But  he  was  just  as  badly  scared  at  the  prospect  as  the  rest.  On  the  day  ap- 
pointed the  committee,  the  students  and  Professor  Buettner  were  assembled  at 
Canton.  No  one  would  commence  until  the  chairman  arrived.  The  day  wore 
away  and  towards  evening  Z.  arrived  from  Canfield.  He  was  astonished  that  the 
examination  was  not  over  ;  said  he  was  unexpectedly  called  to  a  funeral  ;  further 
he  was  so  tired  with  his  ride  and  preaching  that  he  would  adjourn  the  exam- 
ination until  the  next  morning.  Buettner  lived  at  Osnaburg,  some  twelve 
miles  away  ;  mounted  his  horse  saying  that  he  would  return  in  the  morning. 
The  committee  then  cunningly  fixed  on  a  very  early  hour,  hoping  to  get 
through  before  Buettner  could  ride  over  in  the  morning.  Early  in  the  morn- 
ing they  were  all  assembled.  Z.  arose  to  ask  the  first  question,  when,  happen- 
ing to  look  out  of  the  front  window,  what  was  his  consternation  to  see  Dr.  B. 
riding  up  to  the  palings  of  the  fence,  deliberately  dismount,  hitch  and  enter 
in  his  dignified  way.  Not  a  word  would  come  from  the  lips  of  any  of  the  com- 
mittee. Enter  the  professor  and  after  greetings  he  said  :  '  Hal  die  Prufung 
schon  angefangen  ?' 

"  Responds  Z. :  'Die  Examination  ist  vollendet  und  die  Sludenlen  sind  ent- 
lassen/'  Not  a  single  question  was  asked.  They  were  duly  licensed.  Of 
course,  they  kept  mum  about  telling  this  to  Dr.  Buettner.  He  felt  elated  be- 
cause his  students  had  passed  so  well .'" 


Signs  of  Progress.  315 

be  no  doubt;  but  he  found  it  impossible  to  accommodate 
himself  permanently  to  the  conditions  of  American  life  and 
returned  to  Europe.  He  was  the  author  of  several  small 
volumes,  and  after  his  return  to  the  fatherland  published 
an  account  of  his  American  experiences.  In  this  country 
he  was  well  known  for  his  controversy  with  the  rational- 
ists of  St.  Louis. 

Heidelberg  College,  at  Tiffin,  Ohio,  was  founded  in  1850 
in  close  connection  with  the  Western  Theological  Semi- 
nary. Here  labored  such  men  as  Drs.  E.  V.  Gerhart, 
Moses  Kieffer,  Jeremiah  H.  Good,  George  W.  Williard, 
George  W.  Aughinbaugh  and  other  early  graduates  of 
Marshall  College. 

Signs  of  progress  now  began  to  appear  in  other  direc- 
tions. In  the  South  some  territory  was  regained,  and  in 
185 1  Catawba  College,  at  Newton,  N.  C,  was  founded. 
The  German  immigration  to  the  West  was  largely  increas- 
ing, and  through  the  efforts  of  a  number  of  self-sacrificing 
men  a  large  number  of  members  were  gathered  into  the 
Reformed  Church.  Though  the  missionaries  were  gen- 
erally of  foreign  birth,  those  who  were  most  prominent 
had  been  closely  connected  with  the  Eastern  Church. 
Max  Stern,  who  has  been  called  "  the  missionary  par  ex- 
cellence" and  H.  A.  Miihlmeier,  the  founder  of  the  "  Mis- 
sionshaus,"  an  important  institution  in  Wisconsin,  had 
studied  theology  in  Mercersburg  ;  and  H.  J.  Ruetenick,  the 
founder  of  Calvin  College,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  had  en- 
tered the  ministry  as  a  member  of  the  Classis  of  East  Penn- 
sylvania. Especially  interesting,  in  this  connection,  would 
be  the  history  of  the  settlement  in  Wisconsin  of  a  colony 
of  devoted  people  from  Lippe  Detmold,  who  proved  them- 
selves active  and  energetic  in  every  good  work  ;  but  it  does 
not  properly  fall  within  the  scope  of  our  present  study. 


316       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Ursinus  College,253  in  Collegeville,  Pa.,  was  founded  in 
1869  ;  but  it  may  be  well  to  recall  the  fact  that  its  founder, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  A.  Bomberger,  and  several  of  his 
most  eminent  coadjutors  had  been  educated  at  Marshall 
College.  The  importance  of  Mercersburg  as  an  educa- 
tional center  must  therefore  be  recognized. 

Missions. 

The  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  was  organized  in  1826. 
Before  that  time  there  had  been  a  Committee  on  Missions, 
and  it  was  usual  to  require  young  ministers  to  undertake 
a  missionary  journey  before  accepting  a  regular  charge. 
As  congregations  and  individuals  had  been  accustomed  to 
take  their  own  way  in  such  matters,  years  passed  before 
they  could  generally  be  persuaded  to  entrust  their  contri- 
butions to  the  Board,  though  its  importance  is  now  gen- 
erally recognized.  It  is  to  the  efficient  labors  of  this 
Board  that  the  extension  of  the  Church  was  mainly  due. 
Missions  are  now  conducted  in  the  English,  German,  Hun- 
garian and  Bohemian  languages.  The  Harbor  Mission  in 
New  York  extends  necessary  aid  to  recently  arrived  immi- 
grants. In  recent  years  the  establishment  of  church- 
building  funds,  which  furnish  loans  to  indigent  congre- 
gations, has  led  to  gratifying  results. 

The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  was  organized  in  1838. 
At  first  the  work  was  done  in  conjunction  with  the  Ameri- 
can Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  Rev.  Benjamin 
Schneider,  D.D.,  who  was  at  first  a  missionary  at  Broosa, 
in  Asia  Minor,  and  afterwards  at  Aintab,  in  Syria,  was 
mainly  supported  by  the  contributions  of  the  Reformed 


253  Rev.  Henry  T.  Spangler,  D.D.,  is  President  of  Ursinus  College.  Rev. 
James  I.  Good,  D.D.,  is  Dean  of  the  Ursinus  School  of  Theology  which  is  now 
located  in  Philadelphia. 


The    Widows'  Fund.  317 

Church.  His  wife  published  a  volume  entitled  "  Letters 
from  Broosa,"  which  did  a  great  deal  to  awaken  an  interest 
in  the  cause.  In  1865  the  Reformed  Church  withdrew  its 
contributions  from  the  American  Board,  and  for  some 
years  little  was  done,  except  that  some  of  the  churches 
contributed  to  the  support  of  the  missionaries  of  the  German 
Evangelical  Missionary  Society  at  Bisrampore,  India.  In 
1878  the  Board  selected  Japan  as  a  suitable  place  for  mis- 
sionary labor,  and  since  that  time  a  flourishing  mission 
has  been  maintained  in  that  country.  A  mission  has  also 
recently  been  undertaken  in  China.  In  this  country 
the  Board  has  aided  a  mission  among  the  Winnebago 
Indians  in  Wisconsin.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed 
that  in  this  department  of  Christian  activity  the  Reformed 
Church  has  not  accomplished  as  much  as  might  reasonably 
have  been  expected. 

The  Widows'  Fund. 
This  is  the  most  ancient  charitable  organization  in  the 
Reformed  Church.  Its  establishment  was  first  suggested 
by  Michael  Schlatter  in  1755,  in  a  letter  to  the  Classis  of 
Amsterdam,  but  in  consequence  of  his  withdrawal  from 
Coetus  the  matter  remained  in  abeyance  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  necessity  of  such  a  fund  was,  however,  ap- 
parent, for  as  a  rule  the  ministers  were  poor,  and  at  their 
death  their  families  were  frequently  left  in  destitute  circum- 
stances. When  Schlatter,  in  1751,  brought  six  young 
ministers  to  America,  the  Holland  deputies  assured  them 
that  they  should  have  a  salary  of  four  hundred  and  fifty 
Belgian  florins  (about  $180),  besides  perquisites,  "which 
is  considered  sufficient  in  Pennsylvania."  Alsentz  com- 
plained, in  the  minutes  for  1765,  that  the  salaries  were 
"  not  enough  to  live  on  and  too  much  to  die  on."     In  1785 


318        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Helffrich  reported  that  the  salaries  of  ministers  ranged 
from  £75  to  £150,  Pennsylvania  currency — that  is,  from 
$80  to  $160,  but  only  the  pastors  in  Philadelphia,  German- 
town  and  Baltimore  received  the  latter  sum.  Under  such 
circumstances  it  was,  of  course,  literally  impossible  to 
make  provision  for  the  future,  and  the  death  of  a  minister 
was  sure  to  be  followed  by  actual  suffering  on  the  part  of 
those  whom  he  held  most  dear.  In  1773  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church  in  this  country  undertook  to  establish  a 
fund  for  the  relief  of  disabled  ministers  and  the  widows  of 
ministers,  and  it  was  probably  this  movement  that  induced 
the  ministers  in  Pennsylvania  to  carry  out  the  plan  which 
Schlatter  had  proposed.  According  to  Professor  Hinke 
the  organization  was  effected  in  1775  ;  and  gifts  from  Hol- 
land, amounting  to  $360,  constituted  the  nucleus  of  the 
fund.  In  this  connection  the  original  constitution  of  the 
Widows'  Fund  may  be  found  interesting.  It  is  embodied 
in  the  following  report  sent  to  Holland  in  1787  by  the  Rev. 
John  H.  Helffrich  : 

"Statement  of  the  Widows'  Fund. 
"We  the  undersigned  ministers  of  the  Evangelical  Re- 
formed Church  and  members  of  the  Rev.  Coetus,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, having  taken  into  consideration  at  a  former  meet- 
ing our  outward  circumstances,  have  noticed  with  some 
concern  that  our  annual  income,  even  with  careful 
economy,  is  barely  sufficient  to  support  us  and  our  families, 
much  less  to  save  some  money.  And  since  at  the  death  of 
the  father  even  this  ceases,  the  surviving  widow  and  chil- 
dren must  necessarily  be  thrown  into  straitened  cir- 
cumstances, the  former  being  deprived  of  the  necessary 
support  in  her  old  age,  and  the  latter  of  a  thorough  edu- 
cation.    We  have  therefore  unitedly  resolved  to  contribute 


Regulations .  319 

something  of  our  own  means  for  the  establishment  of  a 
widows'  fund  under  the  following  regulations  : 

"Art.  1.  Every  member  shall  contribute  annually  as  long 
as  he  lives  the  sum  of  two  pounds  •  in  specie,'  and  who- 
ever does  not  remit  his  payment  on  the  day  set  for  this 
purpose,  shall  pay  a  fine  of  1  penny  per  day. 

"Art.  2.  The  time  of  payment  shall  be  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  coetus. 

"Art.j.  Whoever  marries  more  than  once  shall  pay  each 
time  the  double  amount  for  that  year,  namely  four  pounds. 

"  Art.  4.  In  case  a  member  is  excluded  from  the  coetus, 
he  shall  be  at  liberty  to  continue  his  payments,  and  after 
his  death  his  widow  and  children  shall  receive  their  share, 
as  if  no  such  exclusion  had  taken  place. 

"  Art.  5.  Whoever  fails  to  pay  three  times  in  succession, 
loses  his  right  and  excludes  his  family  from  the  benefit  of 
the  fund. 

"  Art.  6.  The  annual  interest,  accruing  from  the  money 
thus  deposited,  shall  be  equally  distributed  among  the 
widows  of  such  ministers  who  have  made  the  proper  pay- 
ments. Each  one  shall  receive  her  share  as  long  as  she 
is  a  widow. 

"Art.  7.  If  a  minister  leaves  no  widow,  but  children, 
the  share  falling  to  the  widow  shall  be  paid  to  the  child  or 
children  being  under  fourteen  years  of  age.  Each  child 
is  to  receive  an  equal  share  till  the  age  specified  above 
shall  have  been  reached. 

"Art.  8.  If  the  coetus  in  case  of  absolute  necessity 
need  some  money  for  the  support  of  ministers,  the  money 
may  be  borrowed  from  the  widows'  fund  with  the  consent 
of  all  the  ministers  present.  But  in  order  to  secure  the 
refunding  of  this  money  to  the  widows'  fund  together  with 
the  interest  from  the  day  it  was  paid,  either  from  the  do- 


320       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

nations  from  Holland,  or,  if  they  be  wanting,  from  the 
personal  property  of  the  ministers,  the  president  and  sec- 
retary of  coetus  must  obligate  themselves  and  their  suc- 
cessors by  a  bond  to  the  treasurer  of  this  fund  and  his 
successors. 

"Art.  p.  The  members  shall  obligate  themselves  by 
their  own  signatures  to  observe  these  regulations." 

The  fund  in  1787,  amounted  to  £338,  6s. 2d.  The  ear- 
liest document  now  in  possession  of  the  society  is  dated 
May  1,  1790. 

Though  the  funds  were  faithfully  invested  and  applied, 
the  society  was  never  as  popular  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, and  many  ministers  failed  to  become  members.  It 
was,  however,  incorporated  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Pennsylvania  in  1810.  This  charter  appears  to  have 
been  cumbrous  and  defective,  and  in  1832,  when  the 
synod  appointed  Dr.  B.  C.  Wolff  and  others  a  committee 
to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  society,  it  was  found  that 
there  were  but  four  surviving  members,  and  that  but  two 
widows  were  receiving  its  benefits.  The  surviving  min- 
isters were  Caspar  Wack,  William  Hendel,  D.D.,  Samuel 
Helffenstein,  D.D.,  and  Thomas  Pomp.  The  synod  hav- 
ing expressed  a  desire  that  the  society  should  be  perpet- 
uated, the  surviving  members  cheerfully  transferred  the 
funds  to  the  reorganized  society,  under  the  sole  condition 
that  the  widows  who  were  receiving  annuities  should  not 
be  deprived  of  them.  By  a  change  in  the  charter  the 
benefits  were  made  applicable  to  destitute  ministers  and 
widows  throughout  the  entire  Church,  instead  of  confining 
them  to  residents  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  as  had 
hitherto  been  the  case.  Since  that  time  the  society  has 
been  more  prosperous,  and,  though  the  annuities  remain 
small,  much  good  has  been   accomplished.     The  Daniel 


Publications,  321 

Stine  Memorial  Hall,  at  Myerstown,  Pa.,  was  in  1896  pre- 
sented to  the  society  by  Mrs.  Linda  S.  Kaub,  of  Philadel- 
phia. It  is  intended  to  provide  a  comfortable  home  for 
disabled  ministers  and  their  wives,  and  for  the  widows  of 
ministers  during  their  declining  years. 

Publications. 

That  the  early  ministers  of  the  Reformed  Church  en- 
gaged somewhat  extensively  in  literary  work  has  already 
appeared;  but  it  was  not  until  1805  that  the  Synod,  by 
issuing  its  Synodal-  Ordnung,  first  engaged  directly  in  the 
work  of  publication.  This  pamphlet  was  printed  at  Lan- 
caster by  Henry  and  Benjamin  Grimier.  Subsequently 
for  some  years  the  printing  of  the  Church  appears  to  have 
been  divided  between  Conrad  Zentler,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Gruber  and  May,  of  Hagerstown.  The  Minutes  of 
Synod  were  for  the  first  time  printed  in  1817.  The  earli- 
est periodical  was  the  Magazine  of  the  Reformed  Church, 
which  appeared  in  Carlisle,  Pa.,  in  1828,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Board  of  Missions.  It  was  continued 
in  this  form  until  1832,  when  the  title  was  changed  to 
The  Messenger  of  the  Reformed  Church;  and  with  slight 
changes  in  title  it  is  still  published. 

In  1829  Dr.  Samuel  Helffenstein  began  the  publication 
of  a  German  magazine,  entitled  Evangelisches  Magazin, 
which  was  subsequently  edited  by  the  Rev.  John  H. 
Dreyer.  Dr.  D.  Zacharias,  in  1834,  published  Der 
Herold,  which  was  soon  discontinued.  Then,  in  1835, 
Dr.  B.  S.  Schneck  began  to  publish  Der  Christliche 
Herold,  and  in  1837  Dr.  John  C.  Guldin  started  Die 
Evangelische  Zeitschrift.  The  two  papers  last  mentioned 
were  in  1837  united  and  for  many  years  published  as  Die 
Christliche  Zeitschrift.     Finally  the  title  was  changed  to 


322       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Reformirte  Kirchenzeitung,  and  as  such  it  is  now  pub- 
lished in  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Many  periodicals  have  been  published  in  the  interests  of 
the  Reformed  Church  at  various  times  and  places,  and  it 
is  of  course  impossible  here  even  to  enumerate  their  titles. 
According  to  the  "Almanac  of  the  Reformed  Church" 
for  1901,  the  whole  number  of  periodicals  at  present  issued 
under  the  authority  of  the  Church  is  twenty,  but  this  does 
not  include  the  publications  of  literary  institutions  under 
the  care  of  the  Church. 

The  "Printing  Establishment"  at  Chambersburg  was 
founded  in  1840  and  was,  after  1844,  under  the  care  of 


SAMUEL  REED  FISHER. 

the  Board  of  Publication.  It  was  not  at  first  successful, 
but  in  1848,  at  a  time  of  great  depression,  three  ministers 
came  forward  and  offered  to  conduct  the  publications  of 
the  Church  on  their  own  responsibility,  paying  the  Synod 
an  annual  bonus  for  the  privilege.     The  ministers  thus 


Burning  of  Chamber  sbtirg.  323 

associated  were  the  Rev.  Drs.  Moses  Kieffer,  B.  S. 
Schneck  and  Samuel  R.  Fisher,  subsequently  known  as 
the  firm  of  M.  Kieffer  &  Co.  For  fifteen  years  this  firm 
successfully  conducted  the  publications  of  the  Church  and 
then  transferred  the  entire  interest  to  the  Synod  at  a  price 
much  lower  than  its  real  value.  This  generous  action  was 
so  highlv  appreciated  that  the  Synod  spontaneously  added 
to  the  purchase  money  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  as 
a  testimonial  of  gratitude  for  many  years  of  faithful  service. 

The  country  was  at  that  time  engaged  in  a  dreadful  war, 
but  no  one  anticipated  that  the  "Printing  Establishment" 
could  possibly  be  in  danger.  Many  expensive  improve- 
ments had  been  made  and  it  was  proposed  to  publish  a 
series  of  important  works  in  denominational  literature. 
Then  a  calamity  occurred  which  in  a  few  hours  swept 
away  the  accumulation  of  years.  On  the  30th  of  July, 
1864,  a  detachment  of  the  Southern  army  entered  Cham- 
bersburg  and  laid  the  greater  part  of  the  town  in  ashes. 
The  "Printing  Establishment"  was  entirely  destroyed, 
nothing  being  saved  from  the  wreck  but  some  stereotype 
plates  and  account  books  which  were  preserved  in  a  fire- 
proof vault.  The  loss  to  the  Church,  at  a  moderate  esti- 
mate, was  $43,000.  It  was  a  trying  time,  but  Dr.  S.  R. 
Fisher,  who  had  general  charge  of  the  publication  inter- 
ests, manifested  great  courage  and  energy.  He  immedi- 
ately removed  to  Philadelphia  and  in  three  weeks  The 
Messenger  was  once  more  in  the  hands  of  its  subscribers. 
Since  that  time  the  Board  of  Publication  has,  under  vary- 
ing conditions,  conducted  its  operations  in  Philadelphia. 
The  chief  centers  of  publication  throughout  the  Church 
have  been  Philadelphia  and  Reading,  in  Pennsylvania, 
and  Dayton  and  Cleveland,  in  Ohio. 

From  all  this  it  may  be  seen  that  the  second  quarter  of 


324       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

the  nineteenth  century  was  in  a  peculiar  sense  a  formative 
period  in  the  history  of  the  Reformed  Church.  There 
were  many  discouragements,  but  there  were  strong  men 
who  believed  that  the  Church  had  a  mission  to  perform 
in  this  country  and  were  stretching  every  nerve  for  its 
accomplishment. 


(0% 


CHAPTER   XXI. 


The  Tercentenary  Year. 


The  Festival  of  the  Catechism- 
General  Synod. 


-Henry  Harbaugh — Orphan  Homes — The 


z] 


HE     celebration     of     the 
three-hundredth     anni- 
versary of  the  publication  of 
^-N/^jSrvy^/^?^  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  in 

the  year  1863,  gave  a  new  im- 
petus to  the  work  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  and  contributed 
greatly  to  its  consolidation.  It 
was  felt  that  the  time  had  come 
when  the  Reformed  Church  of 
this  country  might  be  expected 
to  manifest  some  of  ~ the  fruits  of  its  studies  and  struggles, 
and  no  more  suitable  occasion  could  be  suggested  than  the 
tercentenary  of  its  cherished  confession  of  faith. 

It  is  believed  that  the  earliest  suggestion  for  such  a 
festival  appeared  in  the  Reformirte  Kirchenzeitung,  which 
was  then  edited  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  but  it  was 
also  proposed  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Harbaugh  in  the 
first  volume  of  his  "  Lives  of  the  Fathers,"  and  the  latter 

(325) 


326       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  Slates. 


Early  Life  of  Henry  Harbaugh.  327 

became  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  movement  in  its 
further  development.  He  was,  of  course,  aided  by  all  the 
prominent  men  in  the  Church,  but  without  his  energy  and 
enthusiasm  it  could  hardly  have  proved  so  brilliantly  suc- 
cessful. As  he  exerted  an  influence  so  extensive  and 
beneficent,  we  may,  perhaps,  venture  to  make  room  for  a 
sketch  of  his  somewhat  remarkable  career. 

Henry  Harbaugh  was  born  October  28,  1817,  in  Frank- 
lin County,  Penn.,  very  near  the  boundary  line  of  Mary- 


ffnoUajuLGk 


land.  The  visitor  to  Pen-Mar — a  pleasant  summer  resort 
on  the  South  Mountain — may  see  the  old  homestead,  ap- 
parently lying  almost  at  his  feet.  The  Harbaugh  (Herbach) 
family  was  remotely  of  Swiss  origin,  and  had  always  been 
earnestly  attached  to  the  Reformed  Church.254  They  were 
plain  people,  speaking  the  German  dialect  of  Pennsylva- 
nia almost  exclusively  ;  but  their  descendant  was  proud  of 
them,  and  in  later  life  wrote  reminiscences  of  his  childhood 
with  peculiar  pleasure. 

At  an  old  schoolhouse  near  at  hand  Henry  Harbaugh 
received  his  early  education.  It  has  been  immortalized  as 
"  Das  alt  Schulhaus  an  der  Krick."  That  the  instruc- 
tion there  imparted  was  rudimentary  in  the  extreme  need 
hardly  be  intimated.  Under  such  conditi6ns  it  was  not 
easy  to  become  an  educated  man.  As  a  young  man  Har- 
baugh went  to  Ohio  and  labored  as  a  carpenter  and  mill- 
wright, but  several  times  lost  his  wages  by  the  financial 

264  "Annals  of  the  Harbaugh  Family  from  1736  to  1856,"  by  Henry  Har- 
baugh, Chambersburg,  Pa.,  1861. 

For  a  complete  biography  see  "The  Life  of  Rev.  Henry  Harbaugh,  D.D.," 
by  Linn  Harbaugh,  Esq.,  Philadelphia/.icjoo. 


328       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

failure  of  his  employer.  In  the  meantime,  however,  he 
was  privately  studying  with  all  his  might.  After  a  brief 
term  in  an  academy  he  went  to  Mercersburg  where  he  re- 
mained about  three  years,  taking  an  irregular  course  in 
the  college  and  academy.  In  those  days  his  talents  cer- 
tainly failed  to  be  fully  appreciated  ;  but  his  associates  had 
no  idea  of  the  toil  which  he  expended  on  what  they  may 
have  regarded  as  rudimentary  studies.  Even  at  that  time 
he  devoted  every  moment  of  possible  leisure  to  literary 
composition,  and  his  verses  soon  began  to  appear  anony- 
mously in  print.  It  was  his  purpose  to  prepare  himself  to 
communicate  to  others  some  of  the  culture  which  he  had 
so  laboriously  acquired.  Many  years  afterward  he  said  to 
the  present  writer:  "  Do  not  write  for  fame,  for  that  is 
vain,  if  not  sinful ;  and  do  not  write  for  money,  for  you  are 
likely  to  be  disappointed  ;  but  write  for  the  advancement  of 
your  own  people,  for  that  is  acceptable  to  God." 

In  1850,  while  he  was  pastor  at  Lewisburg,  Pa.,  he  be- 
gan the  publication  of  The  Guardian,  a  small  monthly 
magazine  devoted  to  the  literary  and  religious  interests  of 
young  men  and  women.  It  was  entirely  undenominational, 
and  so  it  remained  during  the  seventeen  years  in  which 
Dr.  Harbaugh  continued  its  editor.  The  publication  was 
unpretentious,  but  it  accomplished  a  great  deal  of  good. 
Sometimes  the  editor  was  compelled  by  the  lack  of  accept- 
able contributions  to  write  almost  everything  that  was  pub- 
lished in  the  magazine  ;  and  it  was  here  that  his  best  liter- 
ary productions  first  appeared.  It  was  in  this  way  that  he 
acquired  fluency  of  style,  and  it  has  been  well  said  that 
"  it  was  The  Guardian  that  made  Dr.  Harbaugh." 

It  was  while  he  was  pastor  at  Lancaster,  between  1850 
and  i860,  that  Dr.  Harbaugh's  pen  was  most  prolific.  He 
published  three  volumes  on  the  Future  Life,  "The  Birds 


THE    REFORMED    CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


HENRY    HARBAUGH. 


Henry  Harbaugh. 


329 


of  the  Bible,"  "The  True  Glory  of  Woman,"  "Poems," 
"  Life  of  the  Rev.  Michael  Schlatter,"  "  Fathers  of  the  Re- 
formed Church,"  two  volumes,  and  several  minor  publica- 
tions. Others  of  his  books  were  more  extensively  circu- 
lated ;  but  the  "Fathers"  involved  more  labor,  and  may 
be  said  to  have  left  the  deepest  impression.  Harbaugh 
was  the  pioneer  of  local  historians  in  the  Reformed  Church, 


OLD   HOUSES   IN  LANCASTER. 

and  though  he  made  mistakes,  as  was  to  be  expected,  his 
successors  have  fully  recognized  the  excellence  of  his 
work. 

In  i860  Dr.  Harbaugh  became  pastor  of  St.  John's 
Church,  Lebanon,  and  in  1863  was  chosen  professor  of 
theology  at  Mercersburg.  During  the  latter  years  of  his 
life  his  literary  work  was  mainly  theological  and  devo- 
tional.    In  1867  he  was  editor  of  The  Mercersburg  Review. 


33°       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  Theological  Seminary  he  seemed  to  be  in  his  ele- 
ment, and  he  was  regarded  as  an  instructor  of  the  highest 
order.  He  died  after  a  brief  illness,  December  28,  1867. 
That  Dr.  Harbaugh  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  natural 
ability  will  not  be  denied.  He  overcame  the  defects  of  his 
early  education  to  such  a  degree  that  Dr.  Schaff  could  say 
of  him,  in  a  memorial  article,  "  he  found  no  difficulty  in 
comprehending  the  most  abstruse  philosophy."  In  the 
expression  of  his  convictions  he  was  courageous  and  de- 
termined, so  that  some  of  his  contemporaries  regarded  him 
as  a  radical.  He  became  a  powerful  controversialist,  but 
was  at  the  same  time  genial  and  full  of  humor.  He  hated 
cant  in  all  its  forms,  and  his  heart  was  full  of  sympathy 
for  every  kind  of  suffering.  It  was  this  fact  above  all 
others  that  brought  him  into  touch  with  the  people,  so  that 
whatever  he  wrote  was  read  with  eagerness.  Several  of 
his  religious  compositions — such  as  "Jesus  I  live  to  Thee" 
and  "Jesus,  my  Shepherd" — have  found  their  way  into 
many  hymn-books.  His  Pennsylvania-German  poems  were 
written  in  hours  of  leisure.  Many  of  them  are  highly 
poetical  and  full  of  tenderness,  and  that  they  are  still  pop- 
ularly remembered  is  not  surprising.  They  were  collected 
after  his  death  and  published  as  "  Harbaugh's  Harfe."255 


26B  One  piece,  at  least,  was  omitted  from  this  collection,  probably  because  it 
did  not  properly  represent  the  Pennsylvania-German  dialect.  It  is  a  macaronic 
composition,  composed  of  Pennsylvania-German  and  English,  but  as  such  it  is 
unique  and  worthy  of  preservation.  It  first  appeared  in  a  Church  Almanac, 
edited  by  Dr.  Harbaugh,  directly  following  a  conventional  picture  of  a  girl 
holding  a  sickle  and  a  sheaf  of  wheat.  Many  of  our  readers  will  be  pleased 
to  read  these  curious  verses  : 

"En  Stick  uwers  Aerndfeld.    Vom  Calennerman  Ufg'setzt. 
"  Die  goldne  Aern  is  wider  do, 
Die  Hoyet  is  verbei  ; 
Die  geele  Felder  gucka  froh, 
Sie  wava  sch6  im  Wind,  you  know, 
Un'  Marga  ge'en  m'r  nei. 


Dialect  Verses.  331 

It  was  while  he  was  pastor  in  Lebanon  that  Dr.  Har- 
baugh  took  the  lead  in  making  arrangements  for  the  Ter- 
centenary celebration.  It  was  to  be,  first  of  all,  "  a  sub- 
lime festival  service  to  God,"  but  it  also  demanded  that  the 
Church  should  throw  its  devout,  joyous  and  zealous  ener- 
gies into  all  it  proposed  to  do  during  the  festival  year.  It 
involved  the  holding  of  a  convention  on  the  19th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1863,  the  enrollment  of  the  names  of  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  and  the  reception  of  memorial  free- 


"  M'r  hot  als  mit  der  Sichel  g'rupt — 
Wo's  g'stanna  hot,  gerefft ; 
Des  war  en  Elend  many  a  day, 
Von  Schwitza  un'  von  Buckelweh, 
Un'  soreness  right  un'  left. 

"  Der  Picture,  wo  do  o'wa  steht, 

Is  weit  behind  the  age ; 
M'r  lacht  wann  m'r  en  Sichel  seht, 
Un'  even's  RefT  is  ausgeplay'd — 

Reapers  sin  now  die  Rage. 

"  En  Sichel  un'  en  Watzaschab 
Hot's  Madel  in  der  Hand  ! 
Was  tnacht  der  Drucker  do  for  G'frass? 
Sell  basst  yo  gar  net  now  a  days. 
Die  Mad  hen  meh  Verstand. 

"  En  Madel  now  im  Aerndefeld 
War  gut  for  Aageweh  ! 
Uf  so  en  Scene  sin  des  my  Strictures, 
Sell  loss  da  Poets  un'  da  Pictures, 
'Sis  nix  in  our  day. 

"  Wer  now  en  Aern&e-Piclure  macht, 
I,osst  Mad  un'  Sichel  weg, 
Spannt  Geil  in  Reaper,  wie  en  Stage, 
Dann  geht's  ahead  in  perfect  rage, 
Un'  kracht  in  alle  Eck. 

"  Wer  des  geplan'd  hot  der  verdient 

Die  thanks  von  every  soul; 
Und  doch  en  mancher  dummer  Trop 
Verlacht  des  Studya  mit  dem  Kop — 

Sei  e'gnes  kann  er  wohl." 


33 2        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

will  offerings,   and   the  publication  of   several  important 
volumes. 

The  principal  convention  was  held  on  the  17th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1863,  in  the  old  church  on  Race  street,  Philadelphia, 
of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bomberger  was  then  pastor.  The 
attendance  was  large  and  included  pastors  and  representa- 
tives from  many  congregations.  The  convention  continued 
in  session  six  days,  and  original  essays  were  read  on  sub- 
jects connected  with  the  history  and  doctrines  of  the  Hei- 
delberg Catechism.     The  European  contributions — mainly 


secured  by  the  influence  of  Dr.  Schaff — were  by  the  Rev. 
Drs.  C.  H.  Hundeshagen,  of  Heidelberg;  J.  J.  Herzog 
and  J.  H.  A.  Ebrard,  both  of  Erlangen ;  C.  Ullmann,  of 
Carlsruhe,  and  G.  D.  J.  Schotel,  of  Leyden.  The  American 
contributors  were  B.  S.  Schneck,  T.  C.  Porter,  H.  Har- 
baugh,  Theodore  Appel,  Thomas  G.  Apple,  M.  Kieffer, 
E.  V.  Gerhart,  G.  B.  Russell,  D.  Gans,  B.  Bausman,  J. 
H.  A.  Bomberger,  B.  C.  Wolff,  and  Thomas  De  Witt,  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  New  York.  These  essays 
were  afterwards  published  in  a  large  volume,  entitled  "The 
Tercentenary  Monument."  It  appeared  in  English  and  Ger- 
man ;  but  the  larger  part  of  both  editions  was  destroyed  at 
the  burning  of  Chambersburg,  and  it  has  now  become  quite 
scarce. 

The  amount  of  free-will  offerings  contributed  during  the 
Tercentenary   year   was  $108,125.98,  from    the   Eastern 


Orphan  Homes.  333 

Syond  alone.  It  was,  for  the  times,  a  very  respectable 
showing,  and  the  effects  of  this  benevolence  were  soon  felt 
in  every  department  of  Christian  activity. 

The  literary  work  of  the  Tercentenary  year  is  not  to  be 
undervalued.  Besides  the  "Tercentenary  Monument,"  to 
which  we  have  already  referred,  the  Tercentenary  edition 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  published  by  a  committee 
of  which  Dr.  Gerhart  was  chairman.  It  contained,  besides 
a  valuable  historical  introduction,  the  standard  text  of  the 
Catechism  in  Old  German,  Latin,  Modern  German  and 
English,  printed  in  parallel  columns.  This  book  was 
printed  in  excellent  style  by  Scribner,  and  is  probably  the 
finest  edition  of  the  Catechism  ever  published. 

Orphan  Homes. 

In  1863  a  young  German  minister,  Emanuel  Boehringer, 
at  Bridesburg,  Philadelphia,  received  into  his  family  sev- 
eral orphan  children.  There  was  at  that  time  much  suffer- 
ing among  children  whose  fathers  had  lost  their  lives  on 
the  field  of  battle,  and  as  yet  the  government  had  not  com- 
pleted arrangements  for  their  relief.  Mr.  Boehringer's 
work,  therefore,  awakened  sympathy  and  from  this  small 
beginning  grew  the  Orphan  Home  at  Bridesburg,  which 
was  in  1867  removed  to  Womelsdorf,  Berks  County,  and  is 
now  known  as  "  Bethany." 

Other  Orphan  Homes  have  since  been  established.  St. 
Paul's,  at  Butler,  Pa.,  was  founded  in  1868,  and  is  a 
successful  institution.  Several  similar  institutions  have 
been  established  in  the  West,  and  so  far  as  we  know 
all  are  prosperous.  There  is  no  form  of  Christian  charity 
that  appeals  so  directly  to  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
and  every  year  the  work  becomes  more  extensive  and 
successful. 


334       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

The  General  Synod. 
It  was  in  the  year  1863  that  the  first  General  Synod  was 
convened.  There  had,  indeed,  since  1844  been  a  Trien- 
nial Convention,  composed  of  delegates  from  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church  and  the  two  German  Reformed  Synods,  but 
it  had  been  purely  advisory  and  was  of  little  practical 
value.  The  Dutch  Church  having  withdrawn  after  the 
second  meeting,  the  convention  was  continued  in  a  some- 
what modified  form  by  the  two  German  Reformed  Synods, 
but  it  led  to  few  practical  results.  A  plan  for  the  organ- 
ization of  a  General  Synod  was  defeated  in  1858;  but  a 
second  attempt  proved  successful — mainly,  it  is  believed, 
in  consequence  of  the  enthusiasm  awakened  by  the  Tercen- 
tenary celebration — and  the  first  meeting  of  the  General 
Synod  was  held  in  Pittsburg,  November  18,  1863.  With 
this  event  the  organization  of  the  Church  may  be  said  to 
have  been  completed.  It  marks  the  beginning  of  a  period 
of  greater  liberality  and  more  extended  usefulness.  The 
present  prosperity  of  the  Church,  we  feel  assured,  is  in 
great  measure  derived  from  the  sources  of  Christian  charity 
that  were  brought  to  light  during  the  Tercentenary  year. 


B^<srsji>'or'*J!D-'t5rsiB'"t5r--»^'i3r^  -tsrsjo-'or'^jD*' 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Conclusion. 


Change  of  Title — Liturgical  Controversies — The  Peace  Movement — Prac- 
tical Work— The  End. 

♦ffT  seemed  at  first  as  if  the 
General  Synod  must 
prove  an  unsuccessful  experi- 
ment. It  was  indeed  boldly- 
prophesied  that  elements  so  di- 
verse could  not  long  remain 
together.  That  there  have  been 
serious  struggle  is  not  to  be 
denied ;  but  with  the  passing 
of  years  better  times  have 
come,  and  there  is  now  no 
threatening  danger. 
In  1869  the  Church  dropped  "the  foreign  patrial  adjec- 
tive "  ;  and  at  the  General  Synod  convened  in  Philadel- 
phia in  November  of  that  year,  the  official  title  of  the 
Church  was  officially  declared  to  have  been  changed  "  from 
that  of  German  Reformed  to  that  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  North  America"  The  change  had 
become  necessary  in  consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  the 
English  language,  and  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 

(335) 


336       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

alteration  has  rendered  the  title  less  distinctive.  The 
name  "  Reformed"  has  been  so  frequently  employed  as  an 
adjective  by  other  ecclesiastical  organizations  that  there 
are  frequent  misunderstandings.  People  who  are  not  fa- 
miliar with  the  history  of  the  Church  are  not  aware  that 
there  is  a  denomination  which  has  borne  this  title  since 
the  days  of  the  Reformation  and  that  it  is  historically  the 
Reformed  Church  proprie  sic  dicta. 

In  its  earlier  history  the  General  Synod  was  greatly 
disturbed  by  controversies  concerning  the  preparation  and 
adoption  of  a  Liturgy.  At  the  risk  of  repetition  it  may, 
perhaps,  be  well  to  say  something  concerning  a  conflict 
which  is  now  happily  concluded.  In  early  days,  as  we 
have  indicated,  the  Palatinate  Liturgy  was  supposed  to 
present  the  proper  model,  but  practically  individual 
pastors  conducted  the  worship  of  the  churches  pretty 
much  as  they  pleased.  Dr.  Mayer,  in  1841,  published  a 
Liturgy  which  was  formally  adopted,  but  it  was,  in  fact, 
only  a  book  of  forms  for  special  occasions  and  was  never 
extensively  used.  There  was  a  general  desire  to  escape 
from  the  prevailing  confusion  and  in  1848  the  Eastern 
Synod  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  liturgy  for  the 
use  of  ministers  and  congregations.  As  originally  con- 
stituted this  committee  consisted  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  John 
W.  Nevin,  Philip  Schaff,  Elias  Heiner,  B.  C.  Wolff,  J. 
H.  A.  Bomberger,  Henry  Harbaugh,  J.  F.  Berg,  and 
elders,  "William  Heyser,  J.  C.  Bucher,  C.  Schaeffer  and 
G.  C.  Welker.  At  a  later  date  the  names  of  Thomas  C. 
Porter,  Samuel  R.  Fisher  and  E.  V.  Gerhart,  were  added 
to  the  committee,  and  Daniel  Zacharias  was  substituted  for 
Joseph  F.  Berg,  who  had  resigned.  In  1861  Dr.  Thomas 
G.  Apple  and  L.  H.  Steiner,  M.D.,  took  the  places  of  Dr. 
Heiner  and  Elder  Heyser  who  were  no  longer  living. 


The  Liturgy.  337 

The  work  of  preparing  a  liturgy  advanced  slowly, 
especially  because  the  members  of  the  committee  were 
not  agreed  with  regard  to  the  proper  interpretation  of  the 
instructions  of  synod.  The  majority  were  convinced  that 
the  times  demanded  worship  that  was  more  thoroughly 
liturgical  than  anything  with  which  the  Church  had  hitherto 
been  familiar;  while  the  minority  desired  to  adhere  closely 
to  the  precedents  afforded  by  the  early  liturgies  of  the 
Reformed  Church.  In  the  course  of  discussion  doctrinal 
differences  were  also  developed.  In  1857  the  committee 
issued  the  "Provisional  Liturgy"  which,  apparently  in  the 
hope  of  satisfying  all  parties,  provided  no  less  than  four 
formularies  for  Sunday  service.  In  1861  the  synod 
ordered  this  liturgy  to  be  reconstructed  and  reappointed 
the  earlier  committee.  At  the  first  meeting  it  became 
evident  that  there  was  no  agreement  as  to  the  principles 
on  which  the  work  should  be  done.  Dr.  Nevin  prepared 
a  report  which  was  published  as  "  The  Liturgical  Ques- 
tion," in  which  he  took  strong  ground  in  favor  of  what  he 
called  "an  altar  liturgy."  Dr.  Bomberger256  replied  in  a 
pamphlet,  entitled,  "The  Revised  Liturgy."  This  was 
the  beginning  of  a  war  of  pamphlets  which  continued  for 
several  years.  Even  the  celebrated  Dr.  J.  A.  Dorner, 
of  Berlin,  took  part  in  the  controversy  and  received  an 
answer  from  Dr.  Nevin. 

In  1866  the  "  Order  of  Worship  "  appeared,  and  in  the 
following  year  the  Western  Liturgy  was  published  by  the 
Synod  of  Ohio.  Both  liturgies  were  recognized  by  the 
General  Synod  as  proper  to  be  used  ;  but  the  controversy 
increased  in  intensity,  and  at  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  it 


256  John  Henry  Augustus  Bomberger,  D.D.,  LX.D.,  was  born  in  Lancaster, 
Pa.,  January  13,  1817  ;  died,  Collegeville,  Pa.,  August  19,  1890.  First  graduate 
of  Marshall  College,  1837  ;  first  president  of  Ursinus  College,  1869. 


338        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

must  result  in  schism.  The  questions  at  issue,  however, 
were  in  1878  submitted  to  a  commission,  representing  all 
the  district  synods.  Rev.  Dr.  C.  Z.  Weiser,257  who  had 
first  proposed  the  appointment  of  this  "Peace  Commis- 
sion," became  its  chairman.  One  of  the  results  of  its 
labors  has  been  the  "  Directory  of  Worship,"  which  was 
in  1887  adopted  by  the  Church,  and  is  now  its  normal 
liturgy. 

Much  attention  has  been  given  to  cultus  and  discipline. 
The  "  Reformed  Church  Hymnal,"  published  in  1890  has 
generally  superseded  earlier  collections,  and  is  acceptable 


\~  .  &C< 


to  the  churches.  For  many  years  the  Church  has  been 
engaged  in  the  work  of  revising  its  constitution,  which 
is  felt  to  be  in  many  respects  deficient ;  but  the  work  is 
not  yet  satisfactorily  concluded. 

In  recent  years  much  attention  has  been  given  to  practi- 
cal church  work,  and  the  result  has  been  an  encouraging 
degree  of  prosperity.  Women's  Missionary  Societies  and 
Young  People's  Societies  have  labored  earnestly  in  their 
chosen  fields.  We  also  have  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew 
and  Philip,  Heidelberg  League,  Christian  Endeavor,  and 
other  well-known  institutions. 

In  the  cause  of  Christian  union  the  Reformed  Church 
has  occupied  an  advanced  position.  It  has  participated  in 
the  successive   meetings   of  the   "  Alliance   of  Reformed 


257  Clement  Zwingli  Weiser  was  bora,  Selinsgrove,  Pa.,  Oct.  29,  1830  ;  died, 
East  Greenville,  Pa.,  Mar.  1,  1898.  He  was  the  author  of  "Life  of  Conrad 
Weiser,"  and  of  several  other  volumes. 


THE    REFORHED   CHURCH    IN    PENNSYLVANIA. 


CLEMENT  Z.  WEISER. 


Statistics.  339 

churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  System."  Several  ef- 
forts to  unite  the  German  and  Dutch  branches  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  have  proved  unsuccessful.  In  1891  both 
churches  voted  in  favor  of  organic  union,  but  the  Dutch 
Church,  which  had  taken  the  lead  in  this  union  movement, 
finally  withdrew  from  it,  for  reasons  which  have  been  de- 
scribed as  "technical"  but  have  never  been  fully  ex- 
plained. The  German  Church  is  now  "the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  United  States,"  and  the  Dutch  Church  is 
"the  Reformed  Church  in  America,"  which  may  be  said 
to  indicate  a  distinction  without  a  decided  difference. 

According  to  the  statistical  reports  of  1899  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  now 
includes  eight  district  synods,258  of  which  three  are  prevail- 
ingly German;  57  classes;  1,079  ministers;  1,660  congre- 
gations;  242,831  members. 

In  Pennsylvania  there  are  323  ministers,  861  congrega- 
tions and  133,922  communicants.  In  these  statistics  we 
have  not  included  unconfirmed  members,  that  is,  children 
and  contributing  members  who  are  not  communicants.259 


258  The  General  Synod,  which  meets  triennially,  includes  the  following 
distinct  synods  :  Eastern  Synod,  Ohio  Synod,  Synod  of  North-west,  Pittsburg 
Synod,  Potomac  Synod,  German  Synod  of  the  East,  Central  Synod,  and  Synod 
of  the  Interior. 

269  We  have  not  included  eight  congregations  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch) 
Church  in  America  which  in  1893  numbered  1,756  communicants.  See  Car- 
roll's "  Religious  Forces."  There  are  also  a  few  independent  German  con- 
gregations concerning  which  we  have  no  information. 


In  concluding  this  paper  the  author  desires  to  renew  his  thanks  to  all  the 
friends  who  have  aided  him  in  its  preparation.  Mr.  Julius  F.  Sachse  has  his 
especial  thanks  for  the  general  appearance  of  the  volume  and  for  its  well- 
chosen  illustrations.  Rev.  Prof.  William  J.  Hinke  has  kindly  furnished  effi- 
cient aid,  especially  for  the  period  of  the  Coetus,  and  has  contributed  photo- 
graphs and  title-pages,  besides  preparing  a  bibliography.  To  many  other 
friends  acknowledgments  are  due. 


340       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  given  special  attention 
to  the  history  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Pennsylvania  ;  but 
we  have  found  it  impossible  to  limit  our  observations  to 
this  narrow  field.  A  single  member  of  an  organization 
can  have  no  separate  history.  Pennsylvania,  as  the  orig- 
inal home  of  many  pioneers  in  other  sections  of  the  coun- 
try, may,  however,  be  regarded  as  presenting  a  character- 
istic type  of  the  Reformed  Church,  and  from  this  point  of 
view  we  have  found  its  history  deserving  of  particular  study. 

To  the  general  reader  our  story  may  present  few  pas- 
sages of  unusual  interest.  It  relates  the  religious  experi- 
ences of  a  plain  people  who,  in  general,  have  quietly  wor- 
shipped God  after  the  manner  of  their  fathers.  Even  now  the 
Reformed  Church  is  neither  as  numerous  nor  as  influen- 
tial as  it  might  have  been  if  its  history  had  been  uniformly 
prosperous ;  but  when  we  recall  its  early  trials,  and  espe- 
cially the  difficulties  which  necessarily  attend  a  change  of 
language,  its  losses  are  at  least  intelligible.  Its  history  as 
a  whole  is,  however,  honorable  and  encouraging.  For 
learning  and  energy  its  leaders  have  been  among  the  fore- 
most, and  through  trials  innumerable  its  course  has  been 
upward  and  onward.  Whatever  may  be  the  religious  and 
social  antecedents  of  the  future  historian,  he  will  not  hesi- 
tate to  recognize  the  Reformed  Church  as  an  important 
factor  in  the  making  of  Pennsylvania. 


a   t  r  T  T 


Bibliography 


OF    THE 


REFORMED  CHURCH  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


By  the  Rev.  Prof.  Wm.  J.  Hinke,  A.M.     1901. 


A.  Manuscript  Collections. 


1.  The  Synodical  Archives  at  the  Hague,  Holland,  contain: 

The  Acts  of  the  Synod  of  South  Holland,  1728-1810.    Vols. 

VIII.-XVII. 
The  Acts  of  the  Synod  of  North  Holland,  1728-1S10.   Vols. 

IX.-XV. 
The   Acts   of    the   Deputies   of  both    Synods,    1730-1810. 

Vols.  VII.-XV. 
The  Extraordinary  Acts  of   the  South  Holland  Deputies, 

1762-1810.     Vols.  I.-VI. 
Two  bound  volumes    of    Pennsylvania    letters   (74  I.  and 

74  II.,   catalogue  number),    an    account    book    (75)    a 

portfolio   (86)  and  a  bundle  (92  B)  of   169  letters  from 

Pennsylvania. 

2.  The  Classical  Archives  at  Amsterdam,  contain : 

The  Acts  of  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam,  1728-1810.     Vols. 

X.-XVIII. 
The  Acts  of  the  Classical  Deputies.     Vols.  XXII.-XXV. 
Classical    Correspondence.       Vols.     XXIX. -XXXI.     and 

XXXV. 
A  Portfolio  of   103  Pennsylvania  Letters. 

3.  The  Archives  of  the  S.  P.  G.  in  London  contain  numerous 

documents,  bearing  on  the  history  of  the  Reformed  element 
in  the  Great  Exodus  of  1709-1710. 
(34i) 


342        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

4.  The  Manuscript  Collections  of  the  British  Museum,  especially 

the  Collection  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  contain  documents 
on  the  history  of  the  Charity  Schools. 

5.  The  Archives  of  the  House  of  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 

copal Church  at  New  York  also  contain  documents  on  the 
Charity  Schools. 

6.  The  Archives  of  the  Moravian  Church  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  con- 

tain many  documents  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Reformed 
element  in  the  "  Congregation  of  God  in  the  Spirit,"  1742- 
1748. 

7.  The  Archives  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  New  Bruns- 

wick, N.  J.,  contain  a  bundle  of  about  eighty  letters  from 
Pennsylvania,  donated  by  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  to  the 
Dutch  Church  in  1846. 

8.  The  Archives  of  the  Historical   Society  of  the  Reformed 

Church  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  contain:  The  Harbaugh  Manu- 
script, a  large  volume  of  letters,  being  the  remnant  of  the 
Coetal  Archives  (cf.  Minutes  of  Synod,  181 7,  p.  10,  §  n). 
The  Mayer  Manuscript,  containing  transcripts  of  the  original 
letters  now  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

9.  Documents  collected  by  the  Rev.   Prof.  J.  H.  Dubbs,  D.D., 

including  the  original  Minute  Book  of  the  Free  Synod  of 
Pennsylvania,  1822-1836. 

10.  Archives  of  Synods  and  Classes. 

B.  Printed    Books. 

I.     EUROPEAN    PUBLICATIONS. 

Guldin,  Samuel.  Kurtze  Apologie  oder  Schutz-Schrift  der  un- 
schuldig  verdachtig  gemachten  und  verworffenen  Pietisten 
zu  Bern.      Philadelphia,   1718    [fictitious    imprint]. 

(Only  known  copy  in  this  country  owned  by  Dr.  J.  H. 
Dubbs.) 

Kurtze  Lehr  und  Gegensiitze  zur  Erliiuterung  und  Ret- 

tung  der  gottlichen  Wahrheit.     Philadelphia,  1718. 

(A  copy  in  the  University  Library  at  Lausanne,  Switzer- 
land.) 


Bibliography.  343 

Berigt  en  Onderrigtinge,  nopens  en  aan  de  Colonie  en  Kerke 

van    Pensylvanien.       Opgestelt    en     uytgegeven    door    de 

Gedeputeerden  van  de   E.   Christelyke  Synodus  van  Zuid 

Holland,  benevens  de   Gecommitteerden  van  de  E.  Classis 

van  Delft  en  Delfsland  en  Schieland.     [1731.]     Pp-  i,  18. 
(The    first    printed    account    of    the    German   Reformed 

Church  of  Pennsylvania.     Very  scarce.     A  copy  owned  by 

Dr.  J.  I.  Good.) 
Kerken-Ordeninge,  gestelt  in  den  Nationale  Synode  der  Gere- 

formeerde  kerken,  binnen   Dordregt  in   de  Jaren   1618  en 

1619.      Rotterdam,  1733. 

(According  to  this  Constitution  the  Church  of  Holland 

governed  the  Reformed  Church  of  Pennsylvania  from  1752- 

1792.     The    title    is    taken    from   the   copy   of   Rev.  John 

Henry  Helffrich,  now  in  the  library  of   the  Ursinus  School 

of  Theology.) 
Steiner,  John  Conrad.     Geschrey  um  Mitternacht.    Erster  Theil. 

XXV.  Predigten.     St.  Gallen,  173S. 

(Only  known  copy  owned  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Dubbs.) 
Eulenkamp,  Gerardus.     De  naakt  ontdekte  Enthusiastry,  Geest- 

dryvery   en  bedorvene   Mystery  der   zo    genaamde   Herrn- 

huters.     Amsterdam,  1739. 

(On  the  basis  of  this  book  Rev.  Boehm  wrote  his  "  Ge- 

treue  Warming"  in  1742.) 
Zinzendorf,    Ludwig   von.     Pennsylvanische   Nachrichten   vom 

Reiche  Christi,  1742. 
Biidingische    Sammlung    einiger    in  die    Kirchen  Historie  ein- 

schlagender,  sonderlich  neuer  Schriften.      3  vols.      Biidin- 

gen,  1 742-1 745. 
Zinzendorf,   L.    von.      Eine    Sammlung    offentlicher   Reden    in 

Amerika.     Biidingen,  1746. 
Fresenius,  J.  Ph.      Bewahrte  Nachrichten  von  Herrnhutischen 

Sachen.     3  Vols.      Frankfurt,  1746-4S. 
Schlatter,  Michael.      Getrouw  Verhaal  van  den  waren  Toestand 

der     meest     herderloze    Gemeentens     in      Pennsylvanien. 

Amsterdam,  1 75 1 .      (A  copy  owned  by  Dr.  J.  I.  Good.) 


344       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Schlatter,  Michael.  Wahrhafte  Erzehlung  von  dem  Zustand  der 
meist  hirtenlosen  Gemeinden  in  Pennsylvanien.  Frankfurt, 
1752- 

Reprinted  in  Fresenii  Pastoral  Nachrichten.     Vol.  XII., 

pp.  181-408. 

Memorial  in  the  Case  of  the  German  Emigrants,  settling  in  the 
British   Colonies   of    Pennsylvania  and   the   back   parts   of 
Maryland,  Virginia,  etc.       London,  1754. 
(Treats  of  Charity  Schools.) 

Verschuldigd  Dank-Adres  aan  de  Edele  Groot  Mogende,  de 
Heeren  Staaten  van  Holland  en  West  Friesland,  opgestelt 
door  de  Deputaten  der  Zuid  en  Noord  Hollandsche  Synoden 
en  de  Gecommitteerden  der  Classis  van  Amsterdam.  Am- 
sterdam, 1758. 

(Only  known  copy  owned  by  Rev.  J.  I.  Good,  D.D.) 

Becker,  Christian  Ludwig.  Sammlung  heiliger  Reden  iiber 
wichtige  Stellen  der  Schrift.     Leipzig,  1790. 

Stahlschmidt,  Joh.  Chr.  Pilger  Reise  zu  Wasser  und  Land. 
Niirnberg,  1799. 

DeWette,  Dr.  Wm.  M.  L.  Die  Deutsche  theologische  Lehran- 
stalt  in  Nordamerika.  Basel,  1826.  (Copy  in  German  So- 
ciety, Philadelphia.) 

(A  Dutch  edition  was  published  at  Amsterdam,  1826.) 

Biittner,  J.  G.  Nordamerikanische  Bilder  u.  Zustande.  Ham- 
burg, 1842. 

Die  Hochdeutsch  Reformirte  Kirche  in  den  Vereinigten 

Staaten.      Schleiz,  1844. 

Briefe  aus  und  iiber  Nordamerika.     Dresden  and  Leipzig, 


1S45. 
Von  Mulinen,  W.  F.     Christoph  von  Graffenried.     Bern,  1896. 

II.    AMERICAN    PUBLICATIONS. 

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a.    1 740-1 792. 

(For  full  titles  see  Hildebum  and  Seidensticker.) 

Weiss,  G.  M.     Een  getrouwe  beschryving  der  wilden  in  Noord 

Amerika,   aangaande    hune   personen,    eigenschap,    natien, 


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taelen,  naemen,  huizen,  Kleederen,  huwelyken,  spys, 
drank,  huisgereedschap,  huishouding,  jaegen,  visschen, 
vechten,  superstitie,  politique,  regeering,  nevens  andere 
maerkwaerdige  zaken. 

Opgestelt  uyt  eige  ervarenheit  von  Georg  Michael  Weiss, 
V.  D.  M.,  1741,  pp.  96. 

Preface  dated,  Burnetsfield,   Albany,  N.  Y. ,  October  4, 
1741. 

(Title  taken  from  Acts  of  Amsterdam  Classis,  under  date 
September  3,  1742  ;   no  extant  copy  is  known.) 

Protestation    of    Several  Members  of    the    Lutheran    and    Re- 
phia,  1742. 
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Zweytes  Coetus  Proctocoll  der  Reformirten  Kirchen  in  Pennsyl- 
vanien,  gehalten  den  28.  September,  1748. 

(Printed  in :   Der  Reformirten  Kirchen  in  Pennsylvanien 
Kirchenordnung,  pp.  6-14,  Philadelphia,  1748.) 

Circular  Schreiben  der  vereinigten  Reformirten  Prediger  in 
Pennsylvanien.     Lancaster,  1752. 

(Only  known  copy  at  The  Hague,  Holland.) 

[Smith,  Wm.]  A  Brief  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the 
Charitable  Scheme,  carrying  on  by  a  Society  of  Gentlemen 
and  Noblemen  in  London.     Philadelphia,  1755. 

Eine   kurze   Nachricht  von   der    christlichen    und    lieb- 

reichen  Anstalt,  Welche  zum  Besten  der  armen  Deutschen 
und  ihrer  Nachkommen  errichtet  worden  ist.  Philadel- 
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Schreiben  des  Evangelisch  Lutherischen  und  Reformirten  Kir- 
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Freiheits-Brief  der  deutschen  Hohen  Schule  in  der  Stadt  Lan- 
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Dr.  C.  D.  Weybergs.     Philadelphia,  1790. 


346       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

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Gegenvorstellung  an  die  werthe   hochdeutsche    Reformirte   Ge- 

meinde  in  und  bey  Philadelphia,  1804. 
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Kirche,    Gehalten    zu    Yorktown,    Pa.,    September,    181 7. 

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1825-1900.) 
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Churches  in  the  United  States.     New  Brunswick,  1819. 
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German  Reformed  Church.      Hagerstown,  1820. 
Gock,  Carl.     Vertheidigung  der  Freyen  Kirche  in  Nord  Amer- 

ika.     Reading,  1822. 
Politische  Ansicht  und  Fortsetzung  der  Vertheidigung. 

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der  Lutherischen  und  Reformirten  Synoden.    Reading,  1823. 
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town,  Lancaster  County,  September,  1826. 

(Minutes  of  the  Free  or  Herman  Synod,  continued  annu- 
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des  Ehrw.      Hrn.  Albert  Helfenstein,  Sr.      Lancaster,  1832. 
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at  Chambersburg.      Chambersburg,  1844. 
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348       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

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35°       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

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(Continued  annually  up  to  the  present.) 

History  of  the  Orphans'  Home  at  Womelsdorf ,  published  by  the 
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Minutes  of  the  Pittsburg  Synod,  held  in  Pittsburg,  February, 
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Acts  and  Proceedings  of  the  Synod  of  the  Potomac  Convened  in 
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(Continued  annually  to  the  present.) 


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logical Seminary.      Philadelphia,  1876. 

Ault,  John.  A  Historical  Sketch  of  Christ  Reformed  Church, 
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Ruetenik,  H.  J.  Handbuch  der  Kirchengeschichte.  2  vols. 
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Brendle,  D.  F.  The  Apostles,  Their  Lives  and  Labors.  Read- 
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Huber,  S.  M.  K.  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Wentz  Reformed 
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352       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Grob,  Jean.  Ulrich  Zwingli.  Zweite  Jubelgabe.  Reading, 
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Van  Home,  David.  The  Mountain  Boy  of  Wildhaus,  A  Life 
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Fisher,  S.  R.  History  of  the  Publication  Efforts  in  the  Re- 
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Dubbs,  J.  H.  Historic  Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
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Apple,  Theo.  The  Life  and  Work  of  John  Williamson  Nevin. 
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(Continued  annually  up  to  the  present.) 

Historic  Manual  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
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Conference  on  Union  between  the  Reformed  Church  in  America 
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Kremer,  A.  R.  Biographical  Sketch  of  John  W.  Nevin.  Read- 
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Meier,  H.  A.  Inauguration  des  Pastors  H.  A.  Meier.  Cleve- 
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Williard,  G.  W.  The  Life,  Character  and  Work  of  Henry 
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354       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Bartholomew,  0.  R.     Won  by  Prayer.     Life  and  Work  of  Rev. 

M.  Oshikawa.     Philadelphia,  1891. 
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edited  by  a  Committee.      Boyerstown,  1891. 
Gerhart,  R.  L.     The  Young  Prophetess.    Philadelphia,  1891. 
Helffrich,  W.  A.     Geschichte  verschiedener  Gemeinden  in  Lecha 

und  Berks  Counties.     Allentown,  1891. 
Peters,  J.  A.     Inaugural  Address.     Tiffin,  1891. 
Fluck,  J.  L.     History  of    the  Reformed  Churches    in  Chester 

County.      Norristown,  1892. 
Grether,  F.     Klein  Hans.    Eine  Ohio  Geschichte.     Cleveland, 

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Janett,    John   L.     Erlebnisse   eines   Missionars   oder   fiinfzehn 

Monate  im  Westen.      Cleveland,  1892. 
Kieffer,  H.   M.     Recollections  of    a  Drummer  Boy.     Boston, 

1892. 
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Lebanon,  1892. 
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St.  John's  Reformed  Church  of  Williamsport.      1892. 
Weiser,   C.   Z.     Monograph    of    the   New  Goshenhoppen   and 

Great  Swamp  Churches.     Reading,  1892. 
Drury,  A.  W.      Life  of  Rev.  P.  W.  Otterbein.      Dayton,  1893. 
Dubbs,  J.  H.     The  Founding  of  the  German  Churches  of  Penn- 
sylvania.     Philadelphia,  1893. 
Grether,  F.     Weit  draussen  auf  der  Prairie.     Cleveland,  1893. 
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Paul's  Classis.      Greenville,  1893. 
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3  vols.     Philadelphia,  1 894-1 900. 
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Church  of  Frederick,  Md.      Frederick,  1894. 
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Revised  Edition,  Philadelphia,  1900. 
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States,  in  Vol.  VIII.  of  American  Church  History  Series. 

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Fisher,  I.  C.     History  of  St.  Mark's  Church  and  Sunday  School. 

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Peace  Movement.     Dayton,  1896. 
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356       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

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Good,  J.  H.  The  Founding  of  the  German  Reformed  Church 
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Hobson,  T.  G.     Addresses  on  Local  History.      1898. 

Mosser,  H.  History  of  the  First  Reformed  Church.  Reading, 
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Dotterer,  H.  S.  The  Church  at  Market  Square,  Germantown. 
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Good,  J.  I.  History  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
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Authentische  Relation  von  dem  Anlass,  Fortgang  und  Schluss  der 
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Bechtel,  John.  Kurzer  Katechismus  vor  etliche  Gemeinen  Jesu 
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phia, 1742. 

(A  copy  in  possession  of  Dr.  J.  I.  Good.) 

Boehm,  John   Philip.     Getreuer  Warnungsbrief  an  die   Hoch- 
deutsch  Evangelisch  Ref.  Gemeinden.     Philadelphia,  1742. 
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Neisser,  George.  Aufrichtige  Nachricht  an  das  Publicum  iiber 
eine  von  dem  Hollandischen  Pfr.  J.  Ph.  Boehm  edirte 
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Boehm,  John  Philip.  Abermahlige  treue  Warming.  Philadel- 
phia, 1743. 

Guldin,     Samuel.      Unpartheiisches    Zeugniss.      Germantown, 

I743- 
Lischy,  Jacob.     Declaration  seines  Sinnes  an  seine  Reformirte 

Religions-Genossen  in  Pennsylvanien  [1743]- 

Bekanntmachung,  1743. 

(A  broadside  in  defence  of  Lischy.) 
Zubly,    John  Joachim.     Leichenpredigt,  welche    ein    Reform. 

Prediger   in   Georgia    einem    alten    Lutherischen    Prediger 

gehalten.      Germantown,    1746. 
Hochreutiner,  John  Jacob.     Schwanen  Gesang.     Mit  einer  Zu- 

schrift  von  M.  Schlatter.     Philadelphia,  1748. 
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358       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Lischy,    Jacob.     Eine   warnende   Wachter    Stimm.     Von    den 

falschen  Propheten.     Germantown,  1749. 
Zubly,  J.  J.     Sie  bekehren  sich,  aber  nicht  recht.     Eine  Predigt. 

Germantown,  1750. 

Evangelisches    Zeugniss  vom  Elend  und  Erlosung  des 

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Zubly,  J.  J.  The  Real  Christian's  Hope  in  Death.  German- 
town,  1756.     4th  ed.      1792. 

Steiner,  John  Conrad.  Schuldigstes  Liebes  und  Ehren  denkmal 
unserm  allergnadigsten  Konige  George  II.,  aufgerichtet. 
Philadelphia,  1 761 . 

Stapel,  Caspar  Michael.  Dr.  F.  A.  Lampen's  Erste  Wahrheits- 
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Otterbein,  Wm.  Die  heilbringende  Menschwerdung.  German- 
town,  1763. 

Steiner,  John  C.  Die  herrliche  Erscheinung  des  Herrn  zum 
Weltgericht.     Philadelphia,  1763. 

Zubly,  J.  J.  Die  wahre  und  falsche  Bekehrung  und  der  Unter- 
schied  zwischen  beiden.     London,  1765. 

Hochdeutsches  Reformirtes  ABC  und  Namenbuchlein.  Ger- 
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Zubly,  J.  J.  Sermon  on  the  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act.  Phila- 
delphia, 1766. 

Funeral   Sermon   on  the   Death  of    George  Whitefield. 

Philadelphia,  1770. 

Seccombe,  John.  Eine  Predigt,  gehalten  zu  Halifax  den  3  July, 
1770  an  die  Hochdeutsch  Reform.  Gemeine  zu  Luneburg, 
bei  Einsetzung  des  Ehrw.  Hrn.  Bruin  Romcas  Comingoe 
durch  Mag.  John  Seccombe  von  Chester.  Aus  dem  Engli- 
schen  iibersetzt.     Philadelphia,  1 771  • 

(Only  known  copy  in  Archives  at  New  Brunswick.) 

Zubly,  J.  J.  The  Nature  of  that  Faith,  without  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  please  God,  considered  in  a  Sermon  on  Hebrews 
xi :  6.      Savannah,  1772. 

(A  copy  in  Library  of  Pa.  Hist.  Society.) 


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Synod  at  Pittsburg,  1863. 

Philips,  Samuel.     The  Voice  of  Blood  in  the  Sphere  of  Nature 
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Fisher,  S.  R.     The  Ripe  Harvest.     Philadelphia,  1868. 

Nevin,  J.  W.     Liturgical    Discussion.       Answer    to    Professor 
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Vaughan,  A.  S.     The  New  Altar.     An  Earnest  and  Practical 
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Gans,  D.     Gospel  Lessons.     Philadelphia,  1869. 

Loos,  I.  K.     Life  of  Cain.      Philadelphia,  1869. 

Salome,  the  Dancer.     Philadelphia,  1869. 

Nevin,  J.  W.     Once  for  All.      1869. 

Russell,  G.  B.     Creed  and  Customs.      Philadelphia,  1869. 

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Fisher,  S.  R.  Family  Assistant  or  Book  of  Prayers.  Phila- 
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Heisler,  D.  Y.  Life  Pictures  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  Philadel- 
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Schneck,  B.  S.  Mercersburg  Theology.  Philadelphia,  1874. 
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Gerhart,  E.  V.     Christ  the  Source  of   Salvation.       Lancaster, 

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Guldin,  J.  C,  and  A.  B.  Shenkle.  Feet-washing.  Lancaster, 
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Helffrich,  W.  A.  Entwiirfe  zu  Leichenpredigten.  Cleveland, 
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Steckel,  L.  D.  Office  of  Deacon  and  its  Practical  Work. 
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Reily,  W.  M.  The  Artist  and  His  Mission.  A  study  in  Es- 
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Good,  J.  H.      Church  Members'  Manual.     Tiffin,  1882. 

Apple,  Theo.     First  Principles  or  the  Science  of  Things.     1883. 

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Daniel,  H.  Der  Troster  oder  Trost  und  Mahnung  in  Liedern 
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Weiser,  C.  Z.     Child's  Life  of  Christ.     Reading,  1886. 
Leonard,  Henry.     The  Fisherman's  Allegories.     Dayton,  1887. 
Swander,  J.  I.      Substantial  Philosophy.      1887. 
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and  edited  by  H.  M.  Kieffer.      Philadelphia,  1891. 
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Schmidt,  A.  M.     Sealed    unto    Christ.      Confirmation    Manual. 

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of  the  World.      Reading,  1893. 
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Herbruck,  E.  P.    Things  New  and  Old.    Sermons.    Akron,  1895. 
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Sweet  Incense  :  Prayers  for  Various  Occasions  in  Life.  Read- 
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Brendle,  D.  F.  God's  Plan  of  Salvation.  An  Honest  Inquiry 
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Seyring,  Anton.  Die  Einheit  der  Kirche  im  Lichte  der  Schrift. 
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Erb,  W.  H.     Christ's  Descent.     Landsford,  1897. 

Grether,  F.  Our  Daily  Bread.  A  Book  of  Scripture  Selections. 
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King,  H.     Infant  Baptism.      Philadelphia  [1898]. 

Schade,  A.  E.  Philosophy  of  History,  based  on  the  works  of 
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Sites,  I.  A.  Reformed  Robbers.  How  one  Church  Produced 
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Zwingli,  U.  The  Christian  Education  of  Youth,  translated 
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Kratz,  F.  W.     Practical  Handbook.     New  York  [1900]. 

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Frantz,  A.  J.  Denkst-du-daran.  Unsern  Confirmanden  gewid- 
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3.    Worship . 

a.   Liturgies. 

Liturgien  zum  Gebrauche  Evangelisch  Reformirter  Gemeinen, 

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(Only  known  copy  owned  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  John  H. 
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368       The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Kirchenformularien  fur  die  Evangelisch  Reformirten  Gemeinen. 
Germantown,  1798. 

(Copy  owned  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Jos.  H.  Dubbs,  D.D.) 
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formed Church.      Chambersburg,  1841. 
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Kirchen  in  den  Vereinigten  Staaten.      Chambersburg,  1842. 
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A  Liturgy  or  Order  of  Christian  Worship.     Philadelphia,  1858. 

(Provisional  Liturgy.) 
An  Order  of  Worship  for  the  Reformed  Church.      1st  edition, 
1S66;   5th  edition,   Philadelphia,  1869;  last  edition,  Phila- 
delphia, 1901. 
Liturgy  or  Order  of  Worship  for  the  Reformed  Church.     Cin- 
cinnati, 1869.      (Western  Liturgy.) 
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dienst  fiir  die  Reformirte  Kirche.     Cleveland. 
(German  edition  of  Western  Liturgy.) 
Eine  Gottesdienst  Ordnung   der  Reformirten   Kirche.       Phila- 
delphia, 1873. 

(German  edition  of  the  Order  of  Worship.) 
The    Directory  of    Worship    for    the    Reformed    Church  in  the 
United  States.      1st  edition,  Philadelphia,  1884;   later  edi- 
tion, Philadelphia,  1887. 
Gottesdienst  Ordnung  der  Reformirten  Kirchen  in  den  Vereinig- 
ten Staaten.     Cleveland,  1890. 

(German  edition  of  the  Directory,  translated  by  the  Rev. 
N.  Gehr,  D.D.) 
Taschen  Agende.       Ausziige    aus    der    Gottesdienst    Ordnung. 
Cleveland,  1891.      (German  and  English.) 

b.   Hymn-Books. 

Geistreiche     Lieder,    Welche    von    den    Reformirten    Kirchen 

gebraucht  werden.      Germantown,  C.  Saur,  1752. 
Neu-vermehrt  und  vollstandiges  Gesangbuch,  worinnen  sowohl 


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Fourth  edition.     Philadelphia,  1 774- 

Das  neue  und  verbesserte  Gesangbuch.     Philadelphia,  Steiner  u. 

Kammerer,   1797.     (First  hymn-book  of  Synod.) 

Second  edition.      Germantown,  M.  Billmeyer,  1799. 

Third  edition.      Germantown,  1807. 

Fourth  edition.     Germantown,  1813. 

Fifth  edition.      Germantown,  1814. 

Sixth  edition.      Germantown,  1828. 

Ninth  edition.      Sumneytown,  1850. 

Das  Gemeinschaftliche  Gesangbuch.     First  edition.     Baltimore, 
1816. 

Second  edition.     Baltimore,  1817. 

Third  edition.      Baltimore,  1818. 

Fourth  edition.      Reading,  1827. 

Fifth  edition.      Greensburg,  1828. 

Later  edition.     New  York,  1S66. 

Hertz,  Daniel.     Poetischer  Himmelsweg.     Lancaster,  1828. 

Second  edition.     Lebanon,  1829. 

Neues  Reformirtes  Gesangbuch  zum  Gebrauch  der  Evangelisch 

Reformirten   Gemeinen.     Pennsylvania,   1829.      (Contains 

699  hymns.) 
[Kroh,  Henry.]     Reformirtes   Gesangbuch,   Auszug  von  270 

Liedern    aus    dem     Reformirten    Gesangbuch.      Lebanon, 

1829. 
Winebrenner,   John.     A  Prayer  Meeting   and  Revival  Hymn- 

Book.      Harrisburg,  1834. 
Smith,    Henry.       Church    Harmony.        Chambersburg,    1833. 

Later  edition,  Chambersburg,  1847. 
Psalms  and  Hymns  for  the  use  of  the  German  Reformed  Church. 

Chambersburg,  1834.     66th  edition,  Philadelphia,  1872. 
Bibighaus,  Henry.     Sonntagschul-Gesangbiichlein.     Chambers- 


370       The  Reformed  Church  m  the  United  States. 

burg,  1840.      2d  edition,  Philadelphia,  1845.     4th  edition, 
Philadelphia,  1866. 

Herman,  C.  G.  Der  Sanger  am  Grabe.  Kutztown,  1842.  6th 
edition,  Kutztown,  1873. 

Berg,  J.  F.      The  Saints'  Harp.     Philadelphia,  1843. 

Sammlung  Evangelischer  Lieder  zum  Gebrauch  der  Hoch- 
deutsch  Reformirten  Kirche.  Chambersburg,  1842.  Sec- 
ond edition,  Chambersburg,  1843.  Later  edition,  Cham- 
bersburg, 1850. 

A  Selection  of  Hymns  to  Accompany  the  Provisional  Liturgy, 
1858. 

Deutsches  Gesangbuch.  Herausgegeben  von  Phil.  Schaff. 
Philadelphia,  1859.  Enlarged  edition,  Cleveland,  1874. 
Pocket  edition,  Cleveland,  1884. 

■ Gesangbuch  mit  Noten.     Cleveland,  1894. 

Harbaugh,  Henry.  Hymns  and  Chants  for  Sunday-schools. 
Philadelphia,  1861. 

Bomberger,  J.  H.  A.  Prayers  and  Hymns  for  Sunday-schools. 
Philadelphia,  1867. 

Services  for  Church  Festivals.      Chambersburg,  1871. 

Van  Home,  David.  Companion  of  Praise.  Philadelphia,  1873. 
Revised  edition,  Philadelphia,  1877. 

Hymns  for  the  Reformed  Church.     Philadelphia,  1874. 
(Eastern  Hymn-Book.) 

Sonntagschul-Gesangbuch  der  Reformirten  Kirche.  Heraus- 
gegeben von  den  deutschen  Synoden.      Cleveland   [1876]. 

Ohne  Noten.     Cleveland,  1SS6. 

Strassburger,  W.  S.   Sunday-school  Hymnal.    Allentown,  1878. 

The  Reformed  Church  Hymnal.     Cleveland,  1S78. 
(Western  Hymn-Book.) 

Nevin,  Alice.  Hymns  and  Carols  for  the  Church  and  Sunday- 
school.      Philadelphia  [1879]. 

Schwing,  Henry.     Tunes  forjWorship.     Philadelphia,  1884. 

Lichtleiter,  W.  T.  Service  Book  and  Hymnal.  Lancaster, 
1886.      Second  edition,  Lancaster,  1893. 

Kurtz,  H.      Gesange  fur  den  gemischten  Chor.    Cleveland,  1887 


Bibliog  rafhy .  371 

Hess,  F.  B.     Stimmen  aus  Zion.     Cleveland,  1889. 

The  Hymnal   of  the   Reformed  Church   in    the  United  States. 

Cleveland,  1S90. 
Friebolin,  Wm.     Zion's  Lieder.     Cleveland  [1S95]. 
Christliche  Liederperlen.      Cleveland,  n.  d. 
Nott,  H.  C.     Glockenklange.     Cleveland,  1896. 
Vollmer,     Philip.      Evangelischer     Liederschatz.      Cleveland, 

1S96. 
Kurtz,  H.     Praise  the  Lord.     A  Collection  of  Anthems  for  the 

use  of  Church  Choirs.      Edited  and  translated  by  M.  Vitz. 

Cleveland,  1897. 
Lorenz,  E.      Himmelwarts.     Eine  Sammlung  geistlicher  Lieder. 

Cleveland,  1899. 
The  Sunday-school  Hymnal.    Philadelphia,  1899. 

4.     Catechization. 
a.   Catechisms. 

Der  Sigenische  Catechismus  oder  ein  Auszug  aus  dem   Heid. 
Catechismus.      Germantown,  C.  Saur,  1748. 

Katechismus  oder  Kurtzer  Unterricht  Christlicher  Lehre.    Phila- 
delphia, Peter  Miller  &  Co.,  1762. 

(First  German  edition  of  the  Heidelberg  Catech.  printed 
in  Pennsylvania.     A  copy  in  library  of  F.  and  M.  College.) 

Philadelphia,  H.  Miller,  1768. 

Philadelphia,  Steiner  &  Cist,  1777. 

Germantown,  Leibert  &  Billmeyer,  1786. 

Philadelphia,  Carl  Cist,  1790. 

Philadelphia,  Steiner  &  Kammerer,  1795. 

Germantown,  M.  Billmeyer,  1S04. 

Philadelphia,  C.  Zentler,  1807. 

Reading,  Joh.  Ritter  &  Co.,  181 1. 

Germantown,  M.  Billmeyer,  181 2. 

Easton,  C.  J.  Hiitter,  1812. 

Philadelphia,  James  Stackhouse,  1814. 

Philadelphia,  G.  and  D.  Billmeyer,  181 6. 

Philadelphia,  G.  and  D.  Billmeyer,  1818. 


37 2        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Katechismus  oder  Kurtzer  Unterricht  Christlicher  Lehre.     Ger- 
mantown,  M.  Billmeyer,  1819. 

Reading,  Joh.  Ritter  &  Co.,  1822. 

Easton,  H.  and  W.  Hiitter,  1826. 

Reading,  Joh.  Ritter,  1826. 

Philadelphia,  G.  W.  Mentz,  1841. 

Chambersburg,  1841. 

Der      Kleine     Reformirte     Katechismus.       Philadelphia,       H. 

Schweizer,  1800. 

Reading,  Joh.  Ritter  &  Co.,  1823. 

Kurzer  Inbegriff  der  Christlichen  Lehre.     Nebst  einen  Kurzge- 

fassten  Kirchengeschichte.     Lancaster,  Joh.  Albrecht,  1804. 

Allentown,  H.  Ebner  &  Co.,  1823. 

Becker,  Christian  Ludwig.     Kurzer  Entwurf   der   Christlichen 

Lehre.      Lancaster,  Johann  Albrecht,  1805. 

Hanover,  Starck  &  Lange,  1808. 

Lancaster,  Hamilton  &  Ehrenfried,  1810. 

Harrisburg,  Gleim  &  Wiestling,  181 1. 

Friedrichstadt,  C.  T.  Melsheimer,  1S13. 

Hauptinhalt  der  Christlichen  Lehre,   nebst  einer  kurzgefassten 

Kirchengeschichte.      Lebanon,  Jakob  Schnee,  1808. 

Reading,  H.  B.  Sage,  1816. 

Reading,  H.  B.  Sage,  1821. 

Zusammenhang  der  Christlichen  Lehre  nach  Anleitung  des  Heid. 
Catechismus.     Lebanon,  Jakob  Schnee,  1810. 

Lebanon,  J.  Hartman,  1818. 

Catechismus  fur  die  Jugend  in  Reformirten  Schulen.     Philadel- 
phia, Jakob  Meyer,  1810. 

Helffenstein,  Samuel.     Kurze  Unterweisung  in  der  Christlichen 
Lehre.     Philadelphia,  C.  Zentler,  1810. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  or  Method  of  Instruction  in  the  Chris- 
tian Religion.      Hanover,  Starck  &  Lange,  1S10. 

(First  known  English   edition  printed   in  Pennsylvania. 
Copy  in  library  of  F.  and  M.  College.) 

Philadelphia,  G.  W.  Mentz,  1820. 

Philadelphia,  G.  W.  Mentz,  1829. 


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6.  Poetry. 

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Weekly  Messenger,  1835. 
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Dreyer. 
Der  Herold,  Harrisburg,  1834,  edited  by  Rev.  D.  Zacharias. 
Christlicher  Herold,  1835-36,  edited  by  Rev.  B.  S.  Schneck. 
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Evangelische  Zeitschrift,  1 835-1 836,  edited  by  Rev.  John  C. 

Guldin. 
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Christian  World,  1 868-1 901,   now  edited  by  Rev.   D.   Burg- 
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Der  Deutsche  Kirchenfreund,  1848-1853,  edited  by  Prof.  Phil. 

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The  Guardian,   1S50-1890.     Edited  successively  by  Drs.  Har- 
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Reformed    Church    Herald,    1S95-1901.      Lisbon,    Iowa,    now 
edited  by  Rev.  L.  P.  Crome. 

C.  Missionary  Periodicals. 
Der  Missionar,  Sheboygan,  1SS0-?. 
Reformed  Missionary  Herald,  1881-1890. 
Sunday  School  Missionary,  1884-?.     Philadelphia. 


380        The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 

Missionsbote,  Cleveland,  1885-1901. 

Woman's  Journal,  1891  September  -1901.  Now  edited  by- 
Rev.  H.  E.  Kilmer,  Alliance,  Ohio. 

Japan  Evangelist,  1 893-1 899.  Yokohama,  edited  by  Rev.  W. 
E.  Hoy. 

Our  Missionary  Helper,  1896-1901.     Reading. 

Reformed  Church  Tidings,  1896,  October,  to  1900,  January. 
Reading,  edited  by  Rev.  R.  W.  Miller. 

China  Mission  News,  1900.     Edited  by  Rev.  F.  Cromer. 

D.     Sunday-school  Periodicals. 
Der  Lammerhirte,  1859-1901.     Philadelphia,  now  Cleveland. 
Child's  Treasury,  1859- ? 
Heidelberg  Teacher,  1873-1901.     Philadelphia. 
Leaves  of  Light,  1873-1901.     Philadelphia. 
Lektionsblatter,  1 874-1 901.     Cleveland. 
Sunshine,  1878-1901.     Philadelphia. 
Lesson  Leaf  (Advanced),  1878-1901.       Philadelphia. 
Advanced  Scholar's  Quarterly,  1879-1901.     Philadelphia. 
Intermediate  Scholar's  Quarterly,  1881-1901.     Philadelphia. 
Vergissmeinnicht,  1 888-1 901.     Cleveland. 
Church  Festival  Helper,  1896-1901.     Philadelphia. 
Home  Department  Quarterly,  1897-1901.     Philadelphia. 
Junior  Quarterly,  1899-1901.     Philadelphia. 

E.     College  Publications. 
College  Days,  Lancaster,  1873-1879.     Continued  as: 

College  Student,  1880-1901. 
College  Times,  Tiffin,  1875-1879.     Continued  as: 

Heidelberg  Monthly  Journal,  1880. 

Heidelberg  Argus,  Tiffin,  -1901. 
Ursinus  College  Bulletin,  Collegeville,  1 885-1901. 
College  Visitor,  Newton,  N.  C,  1885-1901. 
Mercersburg  College  Monthly,  Mercersburg,  1889-1901. 
Franklin  and  Marshall  College  Weekly,  1890-1901. 
College  Folio,  Allentown,  1894.-1901. 
Lesbian  Herald,  Frederick,  Md.,  1896-1901. 
Missions  Haus  Aerolith,  Franklin,  Wis.,  1 897-1901. 


INDEX. 


ALLEMAENGEL,  153- 
Allentown,  189,  196,  284,  307 
Alsentz,  J.  G.,  187,  194,  197. 
Alva,  Duke  of,  16. 
Amsterdam,  Classis  of,  84,  102,  152 

317- 
Amwell,  N.  J.,  151. 
Anhalt,  12. 
Annsbury,  52. 
Antes,  Col.  F.,  230. 
Antes,  Frederick,  85,  113. 
Antes,  Henry,  113,  114,  136-139. 
Antietam,  243. 
Appel,  Theodore,  332. 
Apple,  Thos.  G.,  312,  332,  336. 
Arndt,  John,  230. 
Asbury,  Francis,  241. 
Astor,  John  Jacob,  230,  291. 
Audirac,  Peter,  41. 
Aughinbaugh,  G.  W.,  315. 
Augsburg  Confession,  11,  12. 
Augsburg,  Diet  of,  11,  13. 
Aurand,  J.  D.,  245. 

BADEN-DURLACH,  12. 
Baltimore,  41,  239-245. 
Bartholomaeus,  D.,  152,  158. 
Basel,  7. 

Bausman,  B.,  332. 
Bechtel,  John,  1 17-122,  133,  134. 
Bechtel's  Catechism,  119-121. 
Becker,  C.  L.,  267. 
Becker,  J.  C,  279,  281,  299. 
Beecher,  Jacob,  291. 
Beissel,  Conrad,  73,  96,  98,  209. 
Bensalem,  64,  66. 
Berg,  J.  F,  307-308,  336. 
Berger,  F.  J.,  190. 
Bermudean  Church  (Bramutchy), 
Bern  Church,  104. 
Berne,  29,  69,  71. 
Berne,  Great  Synod,  9,  119. 


Bethany  Church,  101. 
Bethlehem,  Pa.,  121,  139,  14T. 
Bethmann-Hollweg,  311. 
Bibighaus,  H.,  271. 
■160,    Bisrampore,  317. 

Blue  Mountain,  155. 

Blumer,  Abraham,  41,  248,  267. 

Boehm,  J.  Philip,  65,  79-85,  90,  ill,  135 

145.  H9>  157.  I7& 
Boehm,  Martin,  244. 
Boehme,  C.  L.,  40,  248. 
Boehringer,  E.,  333. 
Boel,  Henry,  85. 
Bomberger,  J.  H.  A.,  311,  316,  332,  336, 

337- 
Boos,  J.  W.,  253. 
Brandenburg,  12,  16,  17. 
Brandmiiller,  John,  124,  125. 
Brazil,  22. 
Bremen,  12. 
Brownlee,  W.  C,  263. 
Bucher,  J.  Conrad,  195. 
Budd,  S.  W.,  298. 
Buettner,  J.  G.,  3H-3I5- 
Bugnion,  Joseph,  30,  49. 
Bullinger,  H.,  7,  10. 
Burnetsfield,  88. 

CALVIN,  John,  6,  9-11,  22. 
Capito,  W.,  9. 
Cappel,  9. 

Carlisle,  195,  284,  285-291. 
Catawba  College,  315. 
Chambersburg,  251,  299,  300,  323,  353. 
Chapman,  Jacob,  264. 
Charity  Schools,  168-173,  213. 
Charleston,  205. 
Chase,  Samuel,  218. 
152.    Chestnut  Hill  church,  195. 
Chiffele,  Henry,  49. 
Chitara,  Ludovicus,  252. 
Christman,  Jacob,  275,  313. 
(38l) 


382 


Index. 


Chronicon  Ephratense,  73,  96. 

Clayton,  John,  57. 

Cleves,  16. 

Cocalico,  152. 

Coccejus,  20. 

Coetus,  154-156,  175. 

Coligni,  21. 

Columbia  College,  190,  267. 

Conecocheague,  153,  182. 

Conestoga,  82,  83-85. 

Conewago,  152. 

Congregation  of  God  in  the  Spirit,  75, 

H5,  133,  Hi- 
Corpus  Evangelicum,  225. 
Coventry,  123. 
Crefeld,  65,  67. 
Crevecoeur,  H.  St.  J.,  258. 

DALUKER,  Fredk.,  195,  246. 
Dartmouth,  Earl  of,  215. 
Daub,  Carl,  296. 
Davenport,  James,  76. 
Dechant,  J.  W.,  275. 
De  Turk,  John,  115. 
De  Wees,  William,  65,  66,  85,  139. 
Dickinson  College,  291. 
Diffenbach,  Henry,  283. 
Dilbeck,  Isaac,  62,  65. 
Donegal  Church,  123,  153,  178. 
Dorner,  J.  A.,  337. 
Dorsius,  P.  H.,  92-94,  109. 
Dreyer,  J.  H.,  321. 
Drysius,  Samuel,  24. 
Dubbs,  J.  S.,  282,  307. 
Du  Bois,  Gualterius,  85. 
Du  Bois,  Jonathan,  153,  178. 
Dunkers,  96. 
Dylander,  66. 

EARLTOWN,  155. 
Easton,  186,  298. 
Ebaugh,  J.  S.,  279,  287. 
Ebrard,  J.  H.  A.,  307,  332. 
Edict  of  Nantes,  16,  28,  38,  39. 
Egypt  Church,  93, 104, 105, 109, 153, 155, 

181,  189. 
Emblems,  21. 
Ephrata,  73,  97,  98,  115,  206,  207. 


Epsous,  103. 
Erasmus,  7. 
Ernst,  John,  245. 
Eugene,  Prince,  34. 
Eyerman,  224. 

FABER,  J.  Christopher,  239. 
Faber,  J.  Theobald,  193-194. 
Faber,  J.  Theobald,  Jr.,  194. 
Faehring,  Frederick,  197. 
Falckner  Swamp,  79,  81,  113,  139,  152, 

155,  160,  191,  282. 
Farel,  William,  9. 
Farmer,  Lewis,  230,  231. 
Feinen  Die,  20. 
Fisher,  P.  S.,  282. 
Fisher,  R.  A.,  282. 
Fisher,  S.  R.,  300,  323,  336. 
Fontaine,  John,  57. 
Forks,  153. 
Fox  Hill,  N.  J.,  153. 
France,  141. 
Franckenthal,  16,  117. 
Frankenfeld,  Theo.,  166,  182. 
Frankfort  a.  M.,  16. 
Franklin  and   Marshall   College,    264, 

312. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  95,  115,  119,  256, 

258. 
Franklin  College,  189,  258-264,  273. 
Frederick  III.,  6,  11-13,  16,  17. 
Frederick,  Md.,  149,  235,  280. 
Frederick  William,   Brandenburg,  16, 

17,  21. 
Freeman,  Bernardus,  24. 
Free  Synod,  283 
Frelinghysen,  J.  T. ,  109. 
French  surnames,  40,  44,  45. 
Frey,  Henry,  62. 
Fries,  Jost  H.,  275. 
Frietchie,  Barbara,  243. 
Fryenmoet,  J.  C.,  24. 

GEBHART,  J.  G.,  248. 
Geiger,  Margaret,  225. 
General  Synod,  334. 
Geneva,  6,  17,  70. 
Gerhart,  E.  V.,  311,  312,  315,  332,  336. 


Index. 


383 


German  Reformation,  5. 
Germanna,  56-58. 
Germantown,  New,  153. 
Germantown,  Pa.,  64-67,  114,  118,  iai, 

152.  155.  187,  197. 
Germantown,  Va.,  58-61. 
German  Valley,  151. 
Giesendanner,  J.  U.,  50. 
Gloninger,  John,  230. 
Gobrecht,  J.  C,  196. 
Gobrecht,  John,  196. 
Gock,  Carl,  283. 
Goetschius,  J.  Henry,  105-110. 
Goetschius,  J.  Mauritius,  no. 
Goetschius,  Moritz,  105-106. 
Good,  J.  H.,  315. 
Good,  James  I.,  316. 
Gordon,  Gov.  Patrick,  89. 
Goshenhoppen,  New,  90,  104,  109,  123, 

152,  155. 
Goshenhoppen,  Old,  90,  109, 149,  155. 
Gossler,  J.  C,  283. 
Graffenried,  28,  49,  57. 
Great  Swamp  Church,  31,  90,  104,   109 

155. 
Greencastle,  251. 
Gronovius,  89. 
Gros,  J.  D.,  189,  231. 
Gruber,  J.  A.,  113. 
Gueting,  G.  A.,  243. 
Guldin,  J.  C,  283,  321. 
Guldin,  Samuel,  68-77. 

HACKE,  N.  P.,  275. 
Hackensack,  109,  no. 
Haeger,  J.  F.,  50-54. 
Haeger,  J.  H.,  54-61. 
Hagerstown,  Md.,  149,  251,  253. 
Hanau,  12. 

Handschuh,  J.  F.,  213. 
Hanover,  Pa.,  41,  196. 
Harbaugh,  Henry,  311,  325-331,  332,  336. 
Harbor  Mission,  316. 
Harrisburg,  280. 
Hautz,  A.  W.,  252. 
Heidelberg,  6,  17,  87,  118,  145,  187,  253, 

297. 
Heidelberg  Catechism, 12,13,  37.  270,333. 


Heidelberg    Church    (Berks  County), 

123.  '96. 
Heidelberg  Church  (Lehigh  County), 

153- 
Heidelberg  College,  315. 
Heiner,  Elias,  336. 
Heininger,  TJ.,  224. 
Heller's  Church,  83. 
Helffenstein,  Albert,  279. 
Helffenstein,  Jonathan,  279. 
Helffenstein,  J.  C.  A.,  227,  246,  248. 
Helffenstein,  Peter,  248. 
Helffenstein,  Samuel,  270,  279,  281,  285, 

320,  321. 
Helfferich,  J.  H  ,  248,  265,  267. 
Helmuth,  J.  H.  C,  189,  256,  274. 
Hendel,  J.   W.,  188,   242,  260,  262,  265, 

267,  279. 
Hendel,  J.  W.,  Jr.,  188,  268,  320. 
Henop,  F.  L,.,  190,  242. 
Herbst,  John,  259. 
Herkimer,  Gen.  N.,  221,  228. 
Herman,  Frederick,  Jr.,  282. 
Herman,  L.  F.,  251,  282. 
Herzog,  J.  J.,  332. 
Hess,  Solomon,  27. 
Hesse,  n. 

Hesse,  Amelia  Elizabeth  of,  18. 
Hesse  Cassel,  13. 
Hesse,  Philip  of,  11. 
Hessians,  227. 
Hiestand,  Henry,  245. 
Hiester,  Gov.,  230. 
Higbee,  E.  E.,  311. 
Hill  Church,  83. 
Hillegass,  G.  P.,  85. 
Hinsch,  L.  I,.,  279,  282,  285. 
Hochreutiner,  J.  J.,  158. 
Hock,  J.  J.,  101. 
Hoffeditz,  T.  L.,  305. 
Hoffmeier,  J.  H.,  268. 
Holland,  14,  20-23,  27,  35,  80,  145,  156, 

160,  162,  191,  200,  247,  251,  262,  291. 
Holland  stipend,  197-201,  254. 
Host  Church,  184. 
Huguenots,  16,  39. 
Hundeshagen,  C.  H.,  332. 
Hungary,  20. 


384 


Index. 


Hussites,  14. 

Hutchins,  Joseph,  258-261. 

IMER,  Abraham,  50. 
Indian    Creek   (Indianfield),    152, 
155.  222. 
Ingold,  J.  W.,  250. 

JABLONSKY,  D.  E.,  117. 
Japan,  317. 
Jonestown,  178. 
Jordan  Church,  153,  189. 
Juda,  Leo,  7. 
Juliers,  16. 

KEELER'S  Church,  139. 
Kern,  J.  M.,  221. 
Kichlein,  Peter,  230. 
Kieffer,  Moses,  315,  323,  332. 
Kirchenfreund,  309. 
Kirchverein  des  Weslens,  313. 
Kocherthal,  Joshua,  52,  53. 
Koster,  H.  B.,  67. 
Kreutz  Creek,  152. 
Krummacher,  20,  305. 
Kulenkamp,  G.,  135. 
Kunze,  J.  C,  256. 

LABADIE,  Jean  de,  20,  112,  241. 
Lafayette  College,  298. 
La  Fontaine,  Aug.,  39. 
Lambert  of  Avignon,  11. 
Latnpe,  F.  A.,  20. 
Lancaster,  Pa.,  40,  44,  100,  101,  103,  123, 

149,  152,  135,  158,  186,  194,  234,  260, 

267. 
Lange,  Charles,  236-239. 
Larose,  J.  J.,  275,  312. 
Lasco,  John  a,  14-16. 
Lebanon,  184,  187,  196,  331. 
Lecolie,  P.,  85. 
Lehigh,  Great,  153. 
Lehigh,  Little,  153,  155. 
Leinbach,  T.  H.,  282. 
Le  Jan,  Francis,  49. 
Leyden,  107. 

Leydich,  J.  Ph.,  152,  159. 
Leydt,  John,  247. 
"  Liberty  Bell,"  307. 


Lippe-Detmold,  12,  67,  315. 

Lischy,  Jacob,  125-133,  152. 

Lititz,  124. 

Liturgical  Committee,  336. 

Liturgies,  Early  American,  270. 

Liturgy,  Palatinate,  36. 

Lodenstein,  J.  van,  20. 

Logan,  Gov.  James,  89. 

"Lopers,"  92,  in,  220. 

Loretz,  Andrew,  250. 

Louis  XIV.,  146. 

Loyalists,  227. 

Luther,  Martin,  8,  10. 

Lutheran  Church,  16,  19,  33,  57,  58, 134, 

169,  226,  254,  272,  273. 
Lutz,  Nicholas,  230. 

MACEDONIA  Church,  100. 
MacKean,  Thomas,  257. 
Macungie,  153. 
Manatawny  Church,  153. 
Mann,  John,  253,  267. 
Marburg,  9,  12. 
Marck,  16. 
Marlborough,  34. 

Marshall  College,  263,  294,  295,  311. 
Mayer,  Jacob,  293. 

Mayer,  Lewis,  279,  281,  285-288,  298,  310. 
Meels,  H.  H.,  65-66. 
Melanchthon,  n,  12. 
Melsheimer,  F.  V.,  261,  263. 
Menken,  G.,  20. 
Mercersburg,  293,  298-302,  311. 
Mercersburg  Review,  308,  329. 
Methodism,  241,  291. 
Michael,  Ph.  J.,  223. 
Michaelius,  Jonas,  23. 
Michel,  F.  L.,  28. 
Mifflin,  Thomas,  257. 
Milford,  Upper,  Church,  160. 
Milledoler,  Ph.,  267,  279-280. 
Miller,  J.  Casimir,  223. 
Miller,  J.  Peter,  94-99. 
Miller,  Samuel,  325. 
Minuit,  Peter,  23. 

Missanotti  (Massanutteu),  Va.,  153. 
Missions,  316. 
Missionsliaus,  315. 


Index. 


385 


Mode  Creek,  123,  152. 

Monocasy,  153. 

Moravians,  116,  121,  137,  139,  142. 

Morris,  Robert,  256. 

Mosillem,  109. 

Muehlbach  Church,  123,  178. 

Muhlenberg,  F.  A.,  263. 

Muhlenberg,  H.  E.,  189,  256,  258,  260, 

262. 
Muhlenberg,  H.  M.,  109,   156,  160,  213. 
Miihlmeier,  H.  A.,  315. 
Myeonius,  Oswald,  9. 

NAGLE,  Col.  Peter,  230. 
Nassau,  12. 
Nassau-Dillenburg,  51,  232. 
Neshaminy,  63,  92,  93,  178. 
Neveling,  J.  W.  G.,  252. 
Nevin,  John  W.,  300-311,  336,  337. 
New  Amsterdam,  23. 
New  Berne,  29. 
New  Brunswick,  no. 
New  Germantown,  153. 
New  Measures,  275. 
New  Providence,  234. 
New  York,  85,  197,  206,  221,  222,  230, 

284. 
Northampton  and  Southampton,  153. 
North  Carolina,  29,  55,  57. 

OECOLAMPADIUS,  7. 
Ohio,  Synod  of,  275,  281,  313. 
Olevianus,  14. 
Oley,  72,  86,  112,  113,  114,  115,  123,  149, 

153.  187. 
Orange,  William  of,  21. 
Orangeburg,  S.  C,  50,  205. 
Order  of  Worship,  337. 
Orphan  Homes,  333. 
Otterbein,  G.  W.,  234. 
Otterbein,  P.  W.,  166,  182,  232-246. 

PALATINATE,  11,  17,  19,  26,  33/37, 
187. 
Palatines,  27,  35,  52,  145. 
Pauli,  C.  A.,  253. 
Pauli,  H.  R.,  252,  253,  267. 
Pauli,  William,  253. 
Peace  Commission,  338. 


Peirson,  Lydia  J.,  303. 

Penn,  William,  24. 

Pequea,  187. 

Pernisius,  P.  P.,  250. 

Philadelphia,  40,  85,  87,  89, 109,  152,  155, 

157,  270. 
Pietism,  19,  20,  38,  69. 
Pipe  Creek,  Md.,  142. 
Pithan  (Bitthahn),  223. 
Poland,  14. 
Pomp,  Nicholas,  139,  190-193,  197,  265, 

298. 
Pomp,  Thomas,  192,  267,  279,  320. 
Porter,  T  C,  311,  332,  336. 
Pottstown,  284. 

Presbyterians,  21,  93,  109,  197,  291. 
Propagation  of  Gospel,  Society,  47. 
Providence  (Trappe),  152,  155,  160,  170, 

187. 
Prussia,  13,  19,  117,  305,  313. 
Publications,  321. 
Purry,  J.  P.,  29. 
Purrysburg,  29,  30,  204. 

QUAKERS,  70,  78. 
Quitopahilla,  123,  153,  178,  196. 

RABENHORST,  C,  212. 
Rahauser,  Jonathan,  253,  279. 
Rapho,  196. 

Rauch,  Christian  H.,  122-124. 
Rauch,  Frederick  A.,  293,  296-303,313. 
Reading,  Pa.,  186,  187,  234. 
Redemptioners,  35. 
Reformed  Church  of  Germany,  13. 
Reformed  (Dutch)  Church,  23,  24, 105, 

no,  197,  221,  228,  272,  318,  339. 
Reichenbach,  W.,  260. 
Reiff,  Jacob,  32,  62,  86-90,  156. 
Reily,  J.  R.,  279,  288,  291. 
Rhinebeck,  88. 
Ribault,  Jean,  22. 
Rieger,  J.  B.,  32,  100-104,  152. 
Rockaway,  N.  J.,  153. 
Roerig,  J.  W.,  85. 
Rome,  7,  19. 
Rosenkrantz,  A.,  221. 
Ross,  James,  263. 


386 


Index. 


Rothenbuhler,  F.,  168. 
Rotterdam,  107. 
Rubel,  J.  C,  166,  168. 
Runkel,  J.  W.,  252. 
Rush,  Benjamin,  256,  260. 
Russell,  G.  B.,  332. 
Rutenik,  H.  J.,  315. 

SAUCON,  93,  153,  155,  190,  224,  253. 
Saur,  C.,  169. 
Savannah,  Ga.,  205,  215-218. 
Schaeffer's  Church,  103,  152,  155. 
Schaff,  Philip,  306-310,  332,  336. 
Schipher,  Benedict,  263. 
Schlatter,  Michael,  32,  144-174,  317. 
Schlosser's  Church,  189. 
Schmaltzgass  (Saltzburg),  153,  160,  195. 
Schneck,  B.  S.,  282,  301,  303,  305,  321, 

323-  332- 
Schneider,  Benjamin,  316. 
Schnorr,  Caspar  I,.,  103. 
Schoharie,  52,  53. 
Schools,  Superintendent  of,  169. 
Schotel,  G.  J.,  332. 
Schuyler,  Philip,  Gen.,  228. 
Schwob,  Benedict,  239,  243. 
Shenandoah,  153. 
Shippensburg,  253. 
Siegen,  51,  54. 
Simullankirchen,  19. 
Skippack,  65,  79,  81,  86,  87,  89,  95,  109, 

123,  i49>  152,  155- 
Skippack  Brethren,  118. 
Snyder,  Gov.  Simon,  275. 
"Sons  of  Liberty,"  215. 
South  Branch,  153. 
South  Carolina,  38,  49. 
Spangenberg,  A.  G.,  118. 
Spangler,  H.  T.,  316. 
Spener,  P.  J.,  320. 
Spinner,  John  P.,  221. 
Spottswood,  Gov.,  29,  56,  58. 
Springfield,  153,  155,  189,  253. 
Spyker,  Henry,  230. 
Stahlschmidt,  J.  C,  252. 
Stahr,  John  S.,  312. 
Stapel,  C.  M.,  187. 
Statistics,  339. 


St.  Benjamin's  Church,  242. 

St.  Gall,  143-145,  158,  204,  218. 

Steiner,  J.  Conrad,  157,  160,  168. 

Steiner,  J.  C,  Jr.,  252. 

Steiner,  L.  H.,  336. 

Stern,  Max,  315. 

Steuben,  Baron,  229-230. 

Stiely  Synod,  284. 

Stilling,  48. 

Stock,  J.  P.,  253. 

Stoy,  H.  W.,  166,  182-186. 

Strasburg,  9. 

Swatara  Church,  123,  153,  178,  187. 

Swiss,  The,  6,  48,  307. 

Switzerland,  6,  16,  17,  20. 

Sunday-schools,  274. 

Synod,  Founding  of,  265. 

"S.  P.  G.,"  46-61. 

TANEYTOWN,  Md.,  240. 
Tempelman,  Conrad,  82,  178-181. 
Ten  Heuven,  Evert,  65-66. 
Tennent,  W.,  109. 
Tercentenary,  325-333. 
Tersteegen,  20. 
Theus,  Christian,  224. 
Thirty  Years'  War,  33. 
Thomson,  David,  164. 
Title  of  Church,  265,  335. 
Tohickon  Church,  152,  187. 
Troldenier,  George,  250. 
Tropes,  146. 
Tulpehocken,  95,  123,  149,  152,  155,  158, 

186,  189,  235. 
Tuscarora  Indians,  29. 

ULLMANN,  C,  332. 
TJnio  Ecclesiastica,  225. 
Union  Churches,  19. 
Union  Movements,  273,  338. 
Unitas  Fratrum,  116,  141. 
"United  Brethren  in  Christ,"  245. 
United  Church  of  Germany,  20. 
"United  Ministers,"  243. 
Untereyck,  Theo.,  20. 
Upper  Milford,  195. 
Ursinus,  14. 
Ursinus  College,  316. 
Ursinus  School  of  Theology,  316. 


Index. 


387 


VAN  BEBBER'S  letter,  63. 
Vandersloot,  F.  W.,  253. 
Van  Vlecq,  Paulus,  64,  67,  79. 
Villegagnon,  22. 
Vincent,  187,  191. 
Virginia,  29,  54,  55. 

WACK,  Caspar,  252,  279,  320. 
Wack,  J.  J.,  222. 
Wagner,  Daniel,  242,  252. 
Waldenses,  14. 
Waldschtnidt,  J.,  166,  182. 
Wallauer,  Fredk.,  240. 
Walloons,  40,  85. 
Wandoneck,  205. 
Washington,  Geo.,  231. 
Weber,  J.  W.,  252,  275. 
Weberites,  224. 
Weider,  H.,  243. 
Weikel,  J.  H.,  227. 
Weimer,  Jacob,  242,  251. 
Weinbrenner,  John,  279-281. 
Weiser,  Conrad,  96,  207. 
Weiser,  C.  Z.,  338. 
Weiss,  G.  M.,  83-90,  145,  149,  228. 
Weller,  Henry,  85. 
Wesel,  33. 

Westphalia,  Treaty  of,  17. 
Weyberg,   C.  D.   (Weiberg),  188,  197, 

227,  231,  256. 
Weyberg,  S.  D.,  188. 
Whitefield,  Geo.,  114,  206. 
Whitehall,  186,  189. 
White  Marsh,  65,  79,  81. 


White  Oak,  80,  152,  196. 

Whitpain,  152,  155,  197. 

Widows'  Fund,  317. 

Wied,  12. 

Williard,  G.  W.,  315. 

Winckhaus,  J.  H.,  252,  266,  267. 

Winnebago  Indians,  317. 

Winter  Queen,  27. 

Winters,  Thomas,  245. 

Wirtz,  J.  C,  106,  no,  178. 

Wisconsin,  315. 

Wissler,  J.  J.,  106,  166,  181. 

Witgenstein,  12. 

Witmer,  J.  G.,  193,  194. 

Wolff,  Bernard  C,  291,  311,  320,  332, 

336. 
Worcester,  197. 
Wright,  Sir  Jarues,  216. 
Wyttenbach,  Thomas,  7. 

YORK,  Pa.,    no,    123,  149,  152,  156, 
186,  236,  253,  291-294,  298. 
Young,  Daniel,  292. 

ZACHARIAS,  D.,  321,  336. 
Zeltenreich  Church,  103,  152. 
Zinzendorf,  Count,  115-117,  124,  139. 
Zollikofer,  144. 

Zouberbuhler,  Bartholomew,  30. 
Zouberbuhler,  Sebastian,  49. 
Zubly,  J.  J.,  25,  30,  169,  202-219. 
Zufall,  J.  J.,  190. 
Zurich,  6,  17,  30,  107,  109. 
Zweibriicken,  12. 
Zwingli,  6,  7-9. 


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/yv^ 


